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Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard to Bring the Joy and Community of Gaming to Everyone, Across Every Device

TheLostSwede

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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. Today, Microsoft Corp. announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard Inc., a leader in game development and interactive entertainment content publisher. 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.

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. 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.




Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard, and he and his team will maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company's culture and accelerate business growth. Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming.

"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," said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft. "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."

"Players everywhere love Activision Blizzard games, and we believe the creative teams have their best work in front of them," said Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming. "Together we will build a future where people can play the games they want, virtually anywhere they want."

"For more than 30 years our incredibly talented teams have created some of the most successful games," said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard. "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."

Mobile is the largest segment in gaming, with nearly 95% of all players globally enjoying games on mobile. Through great teams and great technology, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will empower players to enjoy the most-immersive franchises, like "Halo" and "Warcraft," virtually anywhere they want. And with games like "Candy Crush," Activision Blizzard's mobile business represents a significant presence and opportunity for Microsoft in this fast-growing segment.

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 lineups of gaming content in the industry. Upon close, Microsoft will have 30 internal game development studios, along with additional publishing and esports production capabilities.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and completion of regulatory review and Activision Blizzard's shareholder approval. The deal is expected to close in fiscal year 2023 and will be accretive to non-GAAP earnings per share upon close. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.

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Wooooow, this is massive. Way to deal with that cancer of a company.

$68.7 billion in cash?!
 
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wow that’s huge
 
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Now cancel Overwatch 2... and just add this to Overwatch 1.

Thanks!
 
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TheLostSwede

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Wooooow, this is massive. Way to deal with that cancer of a company.

$68.7 billion in cash?!

Yeah, that sounds insane. A/B has $15 billion in equities but that's still freaking $54 billion.

At least it's not Skype ($8.5 billion) which they have almost written off as it's been nothing but a money drain. Luckily it's still alive but not kicking really. Had they added registration using a phone number like all other popular messengers do, Skype could have been a real contender in the IM market. Nowadays barely anyone uses it.

Also I'm not sure they've gained anything by buying LinkedIn - $26 billion.
 
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holy shit that's a massive sum.
I really didn't expect ActiBlizz to be bought, thought they and EA would be "un-aquireable" due to size and cost.
Let's see how MS will deal with ActiBlizz thought, it hasn't exactly been the cleanest reputation recently....
 
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Hopefully a WoW subscription gets included in Gamepass.
 
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Fingers crossed that this will not affect Fable, Dragon Age and Mass Effect in a bad way.
 
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holy shit that's a massive sum.
I really didn't expect ActiBlizz to be bought, thought they and EA would be "un-aquireable" due to size and cost.
Let's see how MS will deal with ActiBlizz thought, it hasn't exactly been the cleanest reputation recently....
would've been, but they kinda died to the massive internal snafu (#metoo amongst others) last year, they've been moribund since
 

bug

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Never cared much for Activision. And Blizzard is just a shadow of the company that brought us Warcraft and Diablo.
So yeah, a big meh from me.
 
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Fingers crossed that this will not affect Fable, Dragon Age and Mass Effect in a bad way.
Umm, Dragon Age and Mass Effect are EA IP's.
 
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Now comes with more added microcrap, get the next expansion for a cool price of £70
 
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Very good news but I fail to see Boby Kotick staying as he is one of those that tarnished the companies reputation.
 

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Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard

I guess the cancer is too deeply seated to be removed at this stage. Im willing to bet that Kotick and the rest of the board members agreed to the sale to microsoft as a get out of jail free card for them to further destroy and hide evidence of what went on before the the acquisition.

Or is Microsoft also 'one of the boys' who is also in on it when it comes to the accusations from members of staff??
 
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Sure beats paying $60 for MW2019.

Edit.
Yeah, BK needs to go, ASAP.
 
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Blizzard has been bought and sold so many times over the last 20 years but hopefully this is a good thing.
 

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"Players everywhere love Activision Blizzard games, and we believe the creative teams have their best work in front of them," said Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming. "Together we will build a future where people can play the games they want, virtually anywhere they want."

Um....what?

I really don't like anything Acitivsion/Blizzard has offered in the past 15+ years.

I liked CoD, you know the first one, and the second one. Every other one after that has gotten worse and worse as the entries continued.
I liked Diablo and Diablo 2
I liked Starcraft.
I liked Warcraft (Orcs & Humans) and Warcraft 2.

I guess I just don't like the horrific status of online gaming for shooters and MMOs - dealing with cheaters and crybabies. I don't need that shit in my life. I already have to deal with whining when my kids or wife complain and then I have to hear from crybabies at work because they don't want to work or feel they're entitled to more. I game to escape that crap, not to give that crap another avenue into my life.

I guess the upside of this is that MS probably (key word) can't do anything worse PR related than Acitivison/Blizzard already has done.
 
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