Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion Satya Nadella says the deal ‘will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms’

Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion

Satya Nadella says the deal ‘will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms’

Microsoft is acquiring Activision, the troubled publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo. The deal will value Activision at $68.7 billion, far in excess of the $26 billion Microsoft paid to acquire LinkedIn in 2016.

It’s Microsoft’s biggest push into gaming, and the company says it will be the “third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony” once the deal closes.

Microsoft plans to add many of Activision’s games to Xbox Game Pass once the deal closes. With the acquisition of Activision, Microsoft will soon publish franchises like Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty,and Candy Crush. “Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog,” says Microsoft’s CEO of gaming Phil Spencer.

“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,” says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Microsoft now expects the Activision Blizzard deal “to close in fiscal year 2023,” which means we might not see this deal approved for up to 18 months. That’s a long period of time for a deal to close, but Activision Blizzard operates in a number of markets, which could make regulatory approval more complicated for Microsoft.