Acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft will be the owner of all the structural parts of the game company. In addition, once the transaction is closed, Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue.
On Tuesday, January 18, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ: ATVI), an American video gaming giant and publisher of some of the most popular games in the world. According to the press release, the sum of the transaction will total as much as $68.7 billion. The boards of both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have already approved the deal. However, the acquisition will be completed only in 2023.
Notably, Activision Blizzard has several segments including Activision Publishing Inc (Activision), Blizzard Entertainment Inc (Blizzard), King Digital Entertainment (King), Major League Gaming, Activision Blizzard Studios, and Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group. Acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft will be the owner of all the structural parts of the game company. In addition, once the transaction is closed, Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue. It will follow only Tencent Holdings Limited and Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE).
The parties will continue their independent operations before the deal is completed. Bobby Kotick will remain the CEO of Activision Blizzard. Afterward, Activision Blizzard will report to Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
Phil Spencer commented:
“Players everywhere love Activision Blizzard games, and we believe the creative teams have their best work in front of them. Together we will build a future where people can play the games they want, virtually anywhere they want.”
After the transaction is closed, Microsoft is planning to offer as many Activision Blizzard games as it can within its Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s catalog. Besides, the company will benefit from platforms that support Activision Blizzard games and improve its Cloud Gaming, allowing more people in more places around the world to participate in the Xbox community through different devices you already own.
Microsoft’s Long-Term Vision
Acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is taking a step to get closer to a virtual world called the metaverse. As the company is competing with Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: FB), formerly known as Facebook, it also introduced Mesh, a solution to the problem of online meetings getting tedious and detached from any real human emotions.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated:
“When we think about our vision for what a metaverse can be, we believe there won’t be a single, centralized metaverse.”
The current mission of Microsoft is inclusion in every aspect of gaming, among both employees and players. This year, Microsoft is planning to upgrade its Mesh feature and integrate it into the Teams platform. With Activision Blizzard, it will also focus on developing features for Xbox games.
Daria is an economic student interested in the development of modern technologies. She is eager to know as much as possible about cryptos as she believes they can change our view on finance and the world in general.
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