Microsoft wasn’t in the first place during the eighth-generation console war. However, it seems like it has no intention of repeating that part of its history. So, the tech giant is buying one of the biggest video game holding companies.
Microsoft Buy Activision Blizzard
Microsoft announced today that they are purchasing Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. This will make them the third-largest video game company, by revenue, after Tencent and Sony. Of course, the acquisition isn’t complete just yet. A purchase this big requires government authorization. The deal is expected to close during the 2023 fiscal year.
Today is a historic moment. We are excited to announce that the world-renowned franchises and talented people at @ATVI_AB will be joining Team Xbox!
— Xbox (@Xbox) January 18, 2022
Full announcement details here: https://t.co/RwF0QgXVwE pic.twitter.com/jIXuYCcndG
IPs and Video Game Studios Gained by Microsoft
When this acquisition is complete, Microsoft will own the following video game IPs.
- Call of Duty
- Candy Crush
- Diablo
- Overwatch
- World of Warcraft
- Starcraft
They will also own several video game studios like:
- Activision Publishing
- Blizzard Entertainment
- Beenox
- Demonware
- Digital Legends
- High Moon Studios
- Infinity Ward
- King
- Major League Gaming
- Radical Entertainment
- Raven Software
- Sledgehammer Games
- Toys for Bob
- Treyarch
Effect on Games?
Microsoft claims that you can expect several Activision Blizzard-owned games to make their way to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. Both new and old games will be coming to the Pass, but which titles aren't specified at this time.
Microsoft also claimed that Activision Blizzard games on other platforms will be supported and not abandoned. However, no information was given about future titles coming to other platforms.
The Biggest Acquisition
As mentioned above, Microsoft is spending almost $70 billion here. This makes it the biggest video game purchase to date, and by a very massive margin compared to the second-biggest acquisition. It was recently done by Take-Two Interactive when they purchased Zynga for $12.7 Billion.
Microsoft had also purchased ZeniMax Media (owner of Bethesda) for $7.5 Billion back in 2020. Today’s sale is almost nine times bigger.
Bad Day for PlayStation Fans
This is surely a piece of bad news for Sony. Call of Duty is one of the biggest video game IPs, with each entry making billions. If Microsoft decided to make COD exclusive to Xbox and PC, it would definitely hurt PlayStation sales by a lot.
So do you think that this acquisition will be good for gaming? Are you worried about games being monopolized by one company? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
