Microsoft buys Activision-Blizzard in $70 billion USD deal.
In the biggest gaming acquisition in history by FAR, Phil Spencer has announced that Activision-Blizzard are now under the Xbox umbrella much like Bethesda, and some of the hugest properties in the world of gaming are now owned by Microsoft, such as the hugely popular 20 year old WoW MMO and the insanely huge Call of Duty series, and let's not forget the cash cow that's Candy Crush (and all the other great franchises of Blizzard's golden era).
This comes right after Phil Spencer says they'll do what it takes whatever competition Sony throws together to Gamepass, and damn, this is huge.
Xbox players will be getting so many great games on Gamepass and now Microsoft has a huge catalog of games it can choose to make exclusive.
As we extend the joy and community of gaming to everyone, we are incredibly excited to welcome the fantastic teams and iconic franchises of Activision Blizzard to Team Xbox https://t.co/DVrgYS8ssB
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 18, 2022
The true evaluation was of $68.7 billion, that's absolutely colossal and dwarves the $8 billion or so that Microsoft previously paid for Bethesda.
I'm no fanboy and I really hope those who choose Sony systems as their gaming platforms don't get too affected by this, but the implications will be huge regardless and I'd say it's a safe assumption that at least one or two franchises will become exclusive, such has happened to The Elder's Scrolls (at least with VI).
Only time will tell how huge this truly is, but I legitimately thought the news were fake.
As I couldn't even get a glimpse of their intent to buy for I was sleeping. This was so fast and so huge, it's probably one of the highlights of this year already in gaming.
I legitimately missed the news, this was at 8am EST and updated 12 minutes ago, FAST.
Time will tell what happens now but as a paying customer of Gamepass Ultimate, it'd be incredible to get some sweet Activision-Blizzard games.
Talking about the entire controversy around Activision is a whole other can of worms, and I really hope Microsoft is able to fix this company once and for all and that Bobby Kotick gets the jail time he deserves.
May Activision be as great as it was during their Atari days.