2022 has barely begun and we already have the first bombshell in the world of video games: Microsoft has bought Activision Blizzard. As if buying Bethesda for $7.5 billion was not enough, Nadella’s company is going to pay $68.7 billion for Activision Blizzard, thus keeping franchises like “Call of Duty”, “Diablo” and “World of Warcraft”, among others..
From Microsoft they affirm that it is an “intention” to purchase, insofar as it will be subject to the approval of the pertinent organisms. According to the company, “This acquisition will accelerate the growth of Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console, and in the cloud, and provide building blocks for the metaverse.”
More wood for Game Pass
The transaction is going to be clear and straightforward: $95 per share and fully in effect. Thus, the total amount amounts to 68.7 billion dollars. An outrageous figure for a study that, curiously, is not exactly going through its best moment. As they point out from Microsoft, when the transaction is completed, Microsoft will be “the third largest video game company in the world by revenue”, only behind Sony and Tencent.
What does this transaction involve? It implies that Microsoft, which ‘Fallout’, ‘DOOM’ and ‘The Elder Scrolls’ seems to have known little about, takes over the brands of Activision, Blizzard and King, that is, ‘Warcraft” Diablo’, ‘Overwatch’, ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Candy Crush’, among other names.
A madness of titles to feed an increasingly powerful Game Pass and that puts the following question on the table: will the next Activision Blizzard games be exclusive to PC and Xbox? At the moment, no company has commented on the matter.
Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, will remain in charge. It is a decision that will not be without controversy, since right now the executive is dotted with a series of accusations regarding cases of harassment and even mistreatment.
Moreover, Phil Spencer himself, head of Microsoft Gaming, said a couple of months ago that he was “disturbed and deeply concerned about the horrible events and actions” that Activision was taking place. He also said that Xbox was “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments.” What no one expected is that these “adjustments” would lead to the purchase of the study. However, and in the words of Microsoft:
“Bobby Kotick will remain CEO of Activision Blizzard, and he and his team will remain focused on driving efforts to further strengthen the company’s culture and accelerate business growth. Once the deal closes, Activision Blizzard’s business It will depend on Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
Phil Spencer, for his part, has said the following:
“As a company, Microsoft is committed to our journey toward inclusion in all aspects of gaming, both among employees and among gamers. We deeply value individual studio cultures. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand in hand. hand in hand with treating each person with dignity and respect. This is the commitment of every team and every leadership. We look forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams at Activision Blizzard.”
On the other hand, a note made by Nadella’s company is that the purchase of Activision Blizzard will allow players to access the company’s titles from anywhere through the cloud. This, between the lines, can be read as Activision Blizzard games will come to Game Pass as it already happened with those of Bethesda. Post-closing, Microsoft will have 30 in-house game development studios, along with additional esports publishing and production capabilities.
In any event, the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, applicable regulatory review and approval of the Activision Blizzard shareholders’ meeting. The deal is expected to close in fiscal 2023 (ending June 2023), so it will have to wait until then. In the meantime, both companies will continue to operate independently.
