Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard for $69 billion

Microsoft, the famous tech giant and maker of the Xbox consoles, has recently acquired the video game company Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. With this acquisition, Microsoft now owns several video game franchises originally owned by Activision Blizzard, including popular titles such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, Warcraft, and Candy Crush.

Originally unveiled in January 2022, the biggest deal in the gaming industry cleared its final big hurdle - an approval from Britain - after Microsoft agreed to sell streaming rights for Activision's games to allay competition concerns.

The completion is a major win for the US tech firm in its push to attract more people to its Xbox consoles and Game Pass subscription service. Microsoft's gaming revenue trails that of Sony, whose PlayStation consoles outsell the Xbox.

 "Today is a good day to play," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a post on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. He will oversee the Activision business, with the video-game publisher's CEO Bobby Kotick staying on until end-2023. Spencer has touted the purchase as a way for Microsoft to break into the more than $90-billion market for mobile games.

Activision makes popular mobile titles including Candy Crush Saga and  Call of Duty Mobile - games that were excluded from the cloud streaming deal Microsoft signed with France's Ubisoft Entertainment to secure approval from Britain.

"Microsoft instantly has more than $3 billion of mobile revenues," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. "The big benefit is that Microsoft has a vision that they are going to deliver games through a subscription, and they need more content to give subscribers. So, this is a big step toward having sufficient content," he said.

The deal still faces opposition from the US Federal Trade Commission, which failed in its previous attempt to block the purchase. The FTC said on Friday it was focused on its appeal, but would "assess" Microsoft's agreement with Ubisoft.