by Harry Wilmerding
Microsoft agreed to purchase video game giant Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion, its largest acquisition in company history, multiple sources reported.
Microsoft announced Tuesday that it agreed to purchase Activision Blizzard in an all-cash deal, further broadening the tech giant’s video game portfolio. Upon completion, the deal w0uld make Microsoft the world’s third-largest gaming company, behind Tencent and Sony.
“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,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive Satya Nadella said in a press release. “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.”
Microsoft announced that Activision’s chief executive, Bobby Kotick, would remain at his position if the deal is completed.
“For more than 30 years our incredibly talented teams have created some of the most successful games,” Kotick said in the press release. “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.”
California regulators filed a lawsuit against Activision in July 2021 regarding alleged sexual harassment and unequal pay between men and women within the company, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company announced several internal changes since the suit began, including a zero-tolerance harassment policy and an end to mandatory arbitration for harassment and discrimination reports.
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Harry Wilmerding is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Blizzard at Gamescom 2017” by Marco Verch. CC BY 2.0.
