The deal makes Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue
Microsoft announced that they are purchasing the troubled publisher, Activision Blizzard, for $68.7 billion in cash. This marks the largest acquisition in video game history, surpassing Take Two's recent purchase of Zynga for $12.7 billion. Microsoft says it will be the “third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony”
Once the deal is complete, Microsoft plans to add many Activision Blizzard games to Xbox Game Pass. “Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog,” says Xbox CEO, Phil Spencer.
“We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community, and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive, and accessible to all,” says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
What does this mean for PlayStation players?
While Xbox will definitely get some exclusive content, Phil Spencer said, " I'll just say to players out there who are playing Activision Blizzard games on Sony's platform: it's not our intent to pull communities away from that platform and we remained committed to that." This should put minds at ease for now, especially since Sony is still under contract with Activision Blizzard for the next few years.
Notable Titles Microsoft will be taking over:
Call of Duty
Candy Crush
Crash Bandicoot
Diablo
Guitar Hero
Hearthstone
Heros of the Storm
Overwatch
Skylanders
Spyro the Dragon
Starcraft
Tony Hawk
World of Warcraft
When will change go into effect?
The deal still has work to be done before closing but is estimated to be complete by the FY2023 (July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023).
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