Source: Microsoft
Microsoft's newest acquisition is bound to shake things up in the gaming industry. The company will purchase Activision Blizzard for US$68.7 billion in an all-cash transaction. This acquisition makes Microsoft the world's third-largest gaming company by revenue (behind Tencent and Sony).
The company will own every studio and game under Activision Blizzard, including popular franchises like World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot, and more.
Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard's chief executive, will remain CEO until the Microsoft deal is finalized in 2023. He will then report to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. But it isn't clear what his position would be. According to the companies, he will remain CEO through Microsoft's 2023 fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2023.
As Polygon pointed out, the proposed acquisition comes along as Activision Blizzard reckons with allegations of a toxic, sexist, and discriminatory workplace. There are allegations that Kotick had been hiding the scale of these problems from the public.