Historic! At $70 bn, Microsoft made Activision Blizzard its biggest deal ever; 5
Mobile, metaverse and bypassing Apple App Store fees are key to the purchase - The Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal is a $68.7 billion all-cash acquisition. It has united 2 of the biggest forces in video games. It’s the software maker’s biggest deal ever, almost three times as large as the 2016 purchase of LinkedIn. Here are five key reasons why it happened.
1. Microsoft-Activision Blizzard Deal Size: The transaction, if it can get regulatory approval, will create the world’s No. 3 global gaming company, catapulting Microsoft to just behind China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd., the publisher of League of Legends, and game console rival Sony Corp., maker of the PlayStation. Activision couldn’t compete in the new world of gaming on its own, Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick said in an interview. “You look at companies like Facebook and Google and Amazon and Apple, and especially companies like Tencent — they're enormous and we realized that we needed a partner in order to be able to realize the dreams and aspirations we have,” he said. As for Microsoft, “together our ambition is to bring the joy and unity of gaming to everyone on the planet,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told investors on Tuesday.
2. Microsoft-Activision Blizzard Deal Mobile: It’s the fastest-growing segment of gaming. Activision owns mobile-gaming studio King, maker of Candy Crush, one of the most popular mobile games of all time. Microsoft has next-to-no presence in mobile gaming. “We all know that the No. 1 gaming device on the planet today is mobile phones,” Phil Spencer, the Xbox chief who on Tuesday was named CEO of Microsoft Gaming, said in an interview. For similar motivations, see Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s deal to buy mobile game maker
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