Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard for record amount

This story about big deals, boiled down, in 1:25 minutes.

What's the fuss?

Only a week after the largest gaming deal ever went down, a new record has been set by one of the world's largest tech companies in a spectacular fashion.

The situation

Activision Blizzard sits among few in the echelons of gaming royalty, being responsible for internationally recognized gaming franchises such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

• The billion-dollar game developer & publisher has accrued hundreds of millions of fans from their franchises while simultaneously owning the esports leagues behind them.
• However, the company has recently fallen out of favour amidst workplace scandals and poor reception of their recently released games.

On their seemingly unquenchable quest to own all of gaming, Microsoft has announced their plans to acquire all of Activision Blizzard.

• This is now the biggest gaming deal ever amounting to $68.7 billion, handsomely beating the previous record of $12.7 billion which occurred only a week earlier.
• Microsoft will become the third largest game company in the world after the deal closes, also noting that it "will provide building blocks for the metaverse".

Boiling it down

You don't go spending this type of money to share the spoils with the competition.

• With Microsoft's current spree of game studio acquisitions, many of the games released by these studios will end up exclusive to Microsoft-owned platforms (Xbox or PC).
• It's unlikely that Microsoft will leave heaps of money on the table by not selling to PlayStation owners, but there definitely will be content exclusive to Xbox in order to attract and retain customers.

With Activision Blizzard's existing controversial CEO holding the reins until June 2023, Microsoft has a lot to fix.

• Given Activision Blizzard is still being formally investigated for having a toxic workplace culture, Microsoft will need to improve inclusivity within the company to retain staff.
• Microsoft will also need to refine Activision Blizzard's owned esports leagues, notably Call of Duty League and Overwatch League, to remedy declining audiences.

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