Activision Blizzard shareholders and executive leadership get to bail comfortably out of a sinking ship, and Microsoft gains millions of loyal consumers from market segments they haven’t been able to tap. Most notably: the masters of single-player open storytelling – Bethesda, and Mojang, the studio behind Minecraft, the most popular game ever created by units sold.Ĭonsidering Microsoft’s goals and Activision Blizzard’s predicament, it’s clear why this deal makes sense. At the time of writing this article, Microsoft owns 23 previously independent studios (Verge, 2022). Since its inception, the plan was clear: use Microsoft’s bankroll to aggressively acquire established game studios. In 2017, Microsoft introduced the Xbox Game Pass to the PC gaming market – a monthly subscription service that provides access to an ever-growing catalog of games.
With the biggest tech acquisition ever, Activision Blizzard will be purchased by the second-largest tech company (by market cap) in the world for a whopping 68.7 billion dollars (BusinessHub, 2021). This drop, however, spelled an opportunity for another company looking to expand further into gaming: Microsoft.
Punctuated by a 14% drop in stock price upon breaking news of a sexual assault lawsuit against Activision Blizzard filed by the state of California, Activision Blizzard has fallen on hard times. Finally, King, a mobile game studio best known for Candy Crush Saga, was acquired by Activision Blizzard in 2016.īecause of its immense presence in gaming, Activision Blizzard’s steadily declining financial performance has been heartbreaking for fans across the globe. Blizzard has also developed a range of cult classics – namely World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Starcraft – each of which is the most popular game in their respective genres. As such, it is the 4th largest video game franchise of all time with upwards of 400 million dollars in lifetime sales (Call of Duty Blog, 2021). Activision is best known for the Call of Duty franchise, and with nearly annual releases, it is consistently one of the most played games on consoles every year.
Activision Blizzard has been a giant in gaming for decades, and each of its studios is dominant in its specific genre of gaming.
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