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.

With three billion people actively playing games today, and fueled by a new generation steeped in the joys of interactive entertainment, gaming is now the largest and fastest-growing form of entertainment having market size of above $ 200 billion. In 2021 the growth in the number of video game releases was 64% compared to last year. US along stand out as one of the fastest growing market globally for the Gaming Industry, it reported spending more than 7 hours per week playing across console, PC and mobile. More than 100 million gamers are active user across the Globe, which covers 25 million Xbox Game Pass members, play Xbox games across console, PC, mobile phones and tablets each month. Mobile is the largest segment in gaming, with nearly 95% of all players Globally enjoying games on mobile. 

Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard for $95.00 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion, inclusive of Activision Blizzard’s net cash. The current acquisition will take Microsoft to become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, just 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 Activision Blizzard has studios around the world with nearly 10,000 employees.

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

Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard, said, “For more than 30 years our incredibly talented teams have created some of the most successful games,. The combination of Activision Blizzard’s world-class talent and extraordinary franchises with Microsoft’s technology, distribution, access to talent, ambitious vision and shared commitment to gaming and inclusion will help ensure our continued success in an increasingly competitive industry.”

Activision Blizzard, Inc is an American video game holding company based in California, which joined the S&P 500 stock index in 2015 alongside Electronic Arts another companies relating to gaming. The company was founded through the merger of Activision, Inc the publicly traded company and Vivendi Games. The company is traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol ATVI. Activision Blizzard, a leader in game development and an interactive entertainment content publisher. The planned acquisition includes iconic franchises from the Activision, Blizzard and King studios like “Warcraft,” “Diablo,” “Overwatch,” “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush.”

Activision Blizzard Inc Financial coverage

Microsoft added, the acquisition also bolsters Microsoft’s Game Pass portfolio with plans to launch Activision Blizzard games into Game Pass, which has reached a new milestone of over 25 million subscribers. With Activision Blizzard’s nearly 400 million monthly active players in 190 countries and three billion-dollar franchises, this acquisition will make Game Pass one of the most compelling and diverse line-ups of gaming content in the industry. Upon close, Microsoft will have 30 internal game development studios, along with additional publishing and esports production capabilities.