Earlier this morning, the Internet & gaming community heard some interesting & unexpected news. Microsoft is acquiring Activision/Blizzard for a whopping $68.7 billion. Making this the company’s largest acquisition to date. This will also put Microsoft as the 3rd largest gaming company in revenue when the deal finalizes in 2023.
So along w/ what you would think Microsoft will do on their end like adding titles to their Game Pass subscription to boost their already massive 25 million subscribers. This will be thanks to adding popular titles like Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, & Guitar Hero to the mix. They also have plans to develop metaverse platforms w/ the acquisition as well.
Now this can be potentially great news for Microsoft & Xbox gamers but the timing of the deal might offer some bad press. Activision’s current CEO Bobby Kotick is currently dealing w/ several lawsuits, federal investigations, & multiple sexual assault/harassment allegations – all recently under his tenure. Before all of this, the company was valued at around $72 billion but bad news like will affect those numbers.
He will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard for now but after the deal is done, he’s more than likely getting cut. Everyone will be reporting to Xbox head Phil Spencer as the CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
I’m sure after the deal is complete, there will be a restructuring of the company to avoid future problems. Not sure if this will be a massive layoff of everyone, cutting the current leadership team, or something else.
