Posted in: Activision, Blizzard, Games, Microsoft, Video Games | Tagged: activision, activision blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, microsoft, Xbox Game Studios

Microsoft Announces Acquisition Of Activision Blizzard

Major news this morning for Activision Blizzard as Microsoft has announced they will be acquiring the company shortly. The industry giant announced the move this morning with the artwork you see below as they will be taking over the company in full for the price tag of $68.7 billion. Which means titles such as Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft, and Hearthstone, will all soon fall under the banner of Xbox Game Studios with AB (and all their development studios) acting more as a primary developer, much at the company did with Bethesda Softworks. With all of those titles headed to Game Pass as soon as they possibly can. The acquisition will also include the company's vast global esports network and activities, and everyone currently working for them which amounts to nearly 10,000 employees. As part of the deal, Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard for $95 per share in the all-cash transaction, inclusive of Activision Blizzard's net cash.

Some of the bad news about this deal that will not sit well with current employees is that embattled CEO Bobby Kotick will still remain CEO of Activision Blizzard, however, once the deal closes, all operations will then report to Xbox CEO Phil Spencer. The news comes shortly after it was revealed yesterday that the company has either disciplined or fired over 80 employees following their settlement with the State Of California over sexual misconduct allegations. The company is also still dealing with a lawsuit from its own employees, as well as a federal investigation. It'll be interesting to see how the company manages the situation following the deal as we're sure Microsoft is not keen to take on that much debt and not have a say over how will remain with the company once they get a look at all the HR complaints and lawsuit filings.

Ultimately, when the deal is done, Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios will have 30 internal game development studios, along with additional publishing and esports production capabilities, all under one singular company. It will also make Microsoft the world's third-largest gaming company by revenue, sitting behind Tencent Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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