Editor’s Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges the company has engaged in abuse, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees. Activision Blizzard has denied the allegations. The full details of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (content warning: rape, suicide, abuse, harassment) are being updated as new information becomes available.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced today that the company has acquired Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion purchase, meaning that franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft will now belong to Xbox's parent company. Microsoft is responsible for the Xbox consoles, as well as exclusive gaming franchises like Halo and Gears of War. The company has been steadily acquiring studios over the last few years, with Xbox's buyout of Zenimax and Bethesda being one of the biggest, but this latest acquisition is arguably even bigger, and will likely be one of the most impactful purchases in the history of the gaming sector should it be approved in 2023.
Activision and Blizzard merged in 2009 and quickly became one of the largest video game holding companies in the industry. The company is in charge of some of the highest-earning games in the world, including the World of Warcraft and Call of Duty franchises. Activision Blizzard games release on multiple platforms each year, including Xbox competitor PlayStation, and this deal could lock many of them in as Xbox exclusives. Activision Blizzard has also been under a lot of pressure due to allegations and lawsuits concerning sexual harassment and discrimination at its various studios.
One of the biggest reasons behind the decision to acquire Activision Blizzard is due to Microsoft's competition with PlayStation and the ongoing need for exclusive titles. In recent years, Sony and PlayStation have had the upper hand on Microsoft and Xbox, with the PS4 far outselling the Xbox One and PlayStation exclusives like God of War and The Last of Us Part Two being so successful. Xbox was found lacking when it came to consistent first-party exclusives during the previous console generation, but with popular third-party franchises like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls under its belt following Microsoft's takeover of Bethesda, Xbox is closing the gap. These exclusives will also come to Xbox Game Pass, a subscription service that allows players to play Xbox and Xbox exclusive titles on PC and Xbox consoles without having to buy them individually.
Microsoft Buying Activision Blizzard Gives Xbox More Exclusives
After acquiring Zenimax Media in September 2020, Microsoft owned multiple studios and big game franchises, and that arsenal of first-party talent is set to expand with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Timing is everything when it comes to big acquisitions like this, and it's likely Microsoft obviously felt that now was the best time to add another huge publisher to its collection. Due to the aforementioned lawsuits and controversy, Activision Blizzard's stock price had fallen by $22 billion during November 2021. It was unlikely that Microsoft would ever be able to purchase the company for less in the future.
Xbox Game Pass is going to have a lot of popular games on it. Already the service has Halo Infinite and The Master Chief Collection, new exclusives like Forza Horizon 5, and the ever-popular Minecraft, which was purchased for $2.5 billion in 2014. Now if the service adds Activision Blizzard franchises like Call of Duty and Overwatch, its list of games can rival any list of PS5 exclusives in 2022 and beyond. With so many gamers not even being able to get their hands on an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 due to hardware shortages either, Game Pass becomes an even more attractive option.
Microsoft has once again changed the gaming landscape with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The largest-ever holding company purchase will see famous franchises Call of Duty and Warcraft join with Halo and The Elder Scrolls under the Xbox banner. Although this does raise concerns regarding monopolies and antitrust laws, it's more than likely this deal will benefit Microsoft. It could also be the start of a good thing for Activision Blizzard, with CEO Bobby Kotick potentially leaving. Whatever happens, this is a huge day in gaming history, and one where the full consequences are still unclear.