Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard

The biggest news in the gaming industry since the beginning of the year was the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. According to its terms, the second corporation will become a part of the first one. The cost of the merger is estimated at almost 70 billion U.S. dollars. Let's find out what is known about this event at the moment.

on January 18, the Microsoft website announced the purchase of Activision Blizzard, which includes not only the developers of the Diablo and Warcraft series, but also a number of other studios, including Beenox, Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, and Toys for Bob. These teams now have almost 10,000 employees. The cost of the deal has already been announced: $ 68.7 billion. For comparison, the purchase of Bethesda in 2020, Bill Gates Corporation cost 7.5 billion. As soon as the news about the merger became public, the share price of Activision Blizzard literally rose by a quarter in half an hour, although previously there was a drop in the rate due to scandals with discrimination and harassment in the offices of the company.

According to Microsoft executives, the deal will close during fiscal year 2023, and until then, the two corporations will operate separately. Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer assured Sony console owners that they will not be deprived of Activision games in the future. According to The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, Bobby Kotick, who has led Activision since 1991, will soon leave his post and be compensated $293 million.