Microsoft is aiming to put itself into the upper echelon of video games with its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, the gaming giant behind such franchises as Warcraft Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty and Candy Crush.
The acquisition, announced Tuesday morning, would be the largest in the Redmond company’s history, eclipsing its $26 billion deal for LinkedIn in 2016.
Activision Blizzard, based in Santa Monica, Calif., will bring Microsoft some of the most iconic franchises in modern gaming, 10,000 employees, and a recent spate of sexual misconduct revelations.
Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO, will continue to serve in that role, Microsoft said.
“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,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a statement announcing the deal. “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.”
Developing story, more to come.