CoD, Overwatch and Warcraft will soon be on Team Xbox.
Xbox has announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard and all associated properties for $67.8 billion USD.
Beleaguered CEO Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as Activision Blizzard’s head as part of the deal, with Microsoft saying that “he and his team will maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company’s culture and accelerate business growth.”
Xbox and Activision Blizzard will operate independently until the acquisition is completed. From that point onward, Kotick will report to Xbox head Phil Spencer. While Activision Blizzard’s current culture issues will not be solved by the acquisition overnight, Xbox has said that it “is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming” and holds “all teams to this commitment,” as part of a statement.
“We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard,” the statement continued.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will be at $95 USD per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion USD. When complete, studios such as Treyarch, Raven, High Moon, Beenox, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Toys for Bob, Blizzard and King will become developers under the Xbox Game Studios banner.
Franchises include the likes of Diablo, Overwatch, Starcraft, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and more.
“Players everywhere love Activision Blizzard games, and we believe the creative teams have their best work in front of them,” Spencer said of the deal. “Together we will build a future where people can play the games they want, virtually anywhere they want.”
“For more than 30 years our incredibly talented teams have created some of the most successful games,” added Bobby Kotick. “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.”
“Together with Activision Blizzard, we have an incredible opportunity to invest and innovate to create the best content, community and cloud for gamers to build substantial new value for our shareholders,” added Microsoft head Satya Nadella. “It starts with content across the console, PC and mobile.
“Activision Blizzard is home to some of the world’s most legendary games, including billion dollar franchises like Call of Duty, Candy Crush, World of Warcraft,” Nadella continued. “Activision Blizzard’s portfolio adds to our own first-party lineup, from Minecraft to Forza to Halo and the iconic franchises we acquired as part of the acquisition of ZeniMax Media just last year, including Fallout, Doom and Elder Scrolls.”
When complete, Phil Spencer has already confirmed that Xbox “will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass” including both new and legacy releases.
Microsoft announced plans to acquire XeniMax (Bethesda) in 2020 for $7.5 billion USD; the transaction was completed in 2021.
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