Microsoft buys ‘Call of Duty’ maker Activision Blizzard for $69 bn

San Francisco: In the biggest deal ever in the world of gaming, Microsoft has announced to acquire Activision Blizzard, the maker of popular games like Call of Duty (CoD) and Warcraft, for a whopping $68.7 billion.

When the transaction closes, Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.

The planned acquisition includes iconic franchises from the Activision, Blizzard and King studios like “Warcraft,” “Diablo,” “Overwatch,” “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush,” in addition to global eSports activities through Major League Gaming.

The company has studios around the word with nearly 10,000 employees.

“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, ” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft.

“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” he added.

This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse.

Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard.

The deal is expected to close in fiscal year 2023.

Image courtesy of (File photo)

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