The news of Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard, one of the biggest game publisher companies in the gaming industry, has been making headlines.
To give you a complete rundown of the sale of Activision Blizzard, we will first share a little insight about the company.
What is Activision Blizzard?
Activision Blizzard is a renowned game publisher company in the gaming industry. The company created some of the most amazing games in history.
The company has been in existence since 2008 birthed by the merger between two big companies, Activision and Blizzard Entertainment, the makers of Warcraft, and some other popular games.
Activision Blizzard also owns some strong companies like King, one of the top mobile game developers. King developed the popular Candy Crush mobile game. Other companies owned by Activision Blizzard are; Beenox, Infinity Ward, Raven Software, and Toys for Bob.
Some of the popular games published by Activision Blizzard are:
- Call of Duty
- Warcraft
- Guitar Hero
- Spyro the Dragon
- Diablo
- Tony Hawk’s
- Skylanders
- Crash Bandicoot
- Heroes of the Storm
- Starcraft
- Candy Crush Saga
- Overwatch
The above games are some of the most played on TV consoles and mobile games.
All you need to know about the billion dollars Activision sale
When Microsoft first announced the news of their intention to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, the news came as a shock to a lot of people.
Some gaming companies were not in support of this development, as it was bound to affect the fate of their companies.
Activision Blizzard is currently one of the biggest game publishing companies, and Microsoft Gaming is also one of the biggest gaming companies. The merging together of these big companies is sure to lead to a major change in the gaming industry.
The biggest concern from gaming companies like Sony Interactive Entertainment is that Microsoft will make most of the games published by Activision Blizzard, exclusive only to Xbox.
Sony Interactive Entertainment is currently one of the biggest video game companies in the world. They are renowned for developing Playstation.
Playstation has millions of active users all over the globe, and one of their most played games is Call of Duty: mw3, hence the reason for the concern from Sony.
The Call of Duty series mw3 has attracted a lot of gamers to PlayStation, especially due to its multiplayer features. Players from different parts of the world can play together.
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In the end, Microsoft Gaming was able to come to a compromise with Sony Interactive Entertainment and other gaming companies. They also finally got the support of the European Commission, and the UK’s Competition and Market Authority.
The US trade regulator, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), lost the case against Microsoft too.
The deal was finalized on the 13th of October 2023, Activision is currently owned by Microsoft.
For more information on the deal, we will answer some of the most asked questions on the net regarding the sales.
Answers to some of the most asked questions about the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft;
Why was Activision sold?
In 2021 a scandal erupted in Activision Blizzard. The company was accused of sexual assault and mistreatment of women. To make matters worse, the CEO Bobby Kotick was accused of knowing about this mistreatment of women and didn’t do anything to stop it.
The scandal was a heavy one that even threatened the stock of the company. Microsoft Gaming seized the opportunity and made an offer to purchase the company.
Who objected to the deal and why?
The US trade regulators, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the European Commission, and the UK’s Competition and Market Authority were not in support of the deal.
Their concern was based on their belief that the deal would negatively affect other competitors in the gaming world. Us Federal Trade Commission even sued Microsoft, to stop the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft.
Why was it bought by Microsoft for such a large amount?
Scandal or no scandal, Activision Blizzard is a strong gaming publishing company with a lot of games doing so well in the gaming world. Owning some of the world’s most popular games is such to boost the market cap of Xbox and place it at the top of its competitors.
What will become of PlayStation?
Microsoft negotiated a 10-year agreement to allow other consoles to keep the game series. Sony Interactive Entertainment the developers of PlayStation and other video game companies including Nintendo will all benefit from the agreement.
PlayStation will continue to keep games like COD and the others for 10 more years.
What should the gaming world expect from this big development?
The outcome of the sale of Activision to Microsoft Gaming is sure to have a huge impact on the gaming industry. However, for now, we can not tell whether it will lead to a positive or negative impact.
Will Bobby Kotick remain the CEO of Activision Blizzard?
Bobby Kotick will remain the CEO of Activision Blizzard till the end of 2023. The coming year will come with a change.
These are just a few of the questions, the list goes on and on. We just selected the most significant questions that will give you an overall rundown of the sale.
Conclusion
The sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft for $69 billion is the most expensive video game procurement in history. Hopefully, the deal will lead to more advancements in the gaming industry.
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