Just a few hours ago, news of Activision firing more people due to sexual harassment broke. It’s another stage in a long-running drama at the computer game.
In the last hours, it’s become even more dramatic.
Microsoft, the Xbox owner, will buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7bn. Imagine how much that might have been had it not been for the toxic culture.
Early reports say that controversial CEO Bobby Kotick will remain as CEO.
The deal dwarves Take-Two Interactive buying Zynga last week for $12.7bn and is on a different lead from Asmodee’s $3bn sale.
Satya Nadella, chair and chief executive of Microsoft, told the press;
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,”
Activision’s shares are up nearly 40% in premarket trading.
Activision Blizzard makes Call of Duty and Warcraft, now owns Candy Crush, StarCraft and makes Hearthstone, Diablo, and Overwatch. The list goes on.
Brands included in the deal extend to Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob and Treyarch.
Microsoft also announced today that Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass reach 25 million subscribers. The Activision deal, according to Microsoft, will accelerate their plans for Cloud Gaming.
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