Microsoft on Tuesday made one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of gaming. They have announced an agreement to buy Activision Blizzard inc. for $69 billion. If the deal is successful, Microsoft will become the third-largest gaming company in terms of revenue. Microsoft will take over the position and will put Tencent and Sony behind it. The all-cash deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard is going to strengthen the position of the company in the gaming segment and will also bring many more exclusive titles for Xbox players.
Activision Blizzard is the parent firm of Activision, which is popular for developing some popular gaming franchises like Call of Duty, Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush. It is not the only company Microsoft has acquired. Infact, the company has been acquiring gaming studios and developers for a long time now as the global gaming industry is aimed to grow to $219 billion by 2024. However, there are a few things that Microsoft might have to keep an eye on in this deal.
Approximately half the operating profit of Activision last year was due to the Call of Duty series, which means that other gaming titles from them are not earning as much profit as expected. Also, the company has been facing a lot of technical issues recently in their online gameplay as well. Their recent game, Call of Duty: Vanguard had also seen a decrease in the number of sales. Microsoft claims that they are currently looking for long-term results with the deal and would definitely help them to increase and expand their gaming profile.