New Delhi: Tech giant company Microsoft has announced to buy US gaming giant Activision Blizzard, the maker of games like Call of Duty and Candy Crush.
According to Microsoft, the deal has been done between the two companies for $68.7 billion. The purchase would be made at $95 per share. The deal will help Microsoft increase its involvement in the mobile gaming sector.
Upon completion of this deal, Microsoft will become the third-largest gaming company in the world. Currently, in terms of revenue, Tencent is first and Sony is second. Activision Blizzard has about 10,000 employees in its studios located around the world.
The planned acquisition includes iconic franchises from Activision, Blizzard, and King studios like "Warcraft," "Diablo," "Overwatch," "Call of Duty" and "Candy Crush," in addition to global eSports activities through Major League Gaming.
"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 Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft.
"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," he added.
"For more than 30 years our incredibly talented teams have created some of the most successful games," said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard.
"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," he added.
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