Microsoft is a dominant player in computing software, and also makes the Xbox line of game consoles and operates Xbox Game Studios, a collection of developers to create first party titles. Among its assets are ownership of Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro from Activision's studios Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, and Overwatch from Blizzard Entertainment and Candy Crush Saga from King. The company is composed of five business units: Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, King, Major League Gaming, and Activision Blizzard Studios. The deal is now expected to close by October 18, 2023.Īctivision Blizzard is one of the largest video game publishers in the world, with annual revenues of about $8.8 billion in 2021. The FTC, after failing to obtain injunctions to block the merger, formally withdrew its challenge in July 2023, and the CMA is currently reviewing the revised merger terms. As part of its attempts to appease these concerns, Microsoft committed to offering Call of Duty and other games to Sony and a host of new console and cloud gaming platforms for a decade, as well as selling the streaming rights of the Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft in their gaming service Ubisoft+ for 15 years as an appeasement for the CMA. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) formally filed complaints to block the acquisition on the basis that the merger would hinder competition, particularly in the cloud gaming sector. Several countries have approved the merger, including the European Commission and China. Sony has publicly argued against the merger, claiming that the combined company would deny the PlayStation platform of games like Call of Duty by making them console exclusive to the Xbox family, but has made a binding agreement with Microsoft to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 more years after the merge (until 2033). If approved by international regulators, it would be the largest video game acquisition in history. The acquisition would give Microsoft ownership of franchises including Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush.

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft would own Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, and King under the Microsoft Gaming division as a sibling to Xbox Game Studios. On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash. Proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft Business acquisition held from 2022 to 2023

Blizzard battle.net buyout