Microsoft has announced the acquisition of beleaguered publisher Activision Blizzard. Confirming the news through an official blog post, that'll puts them in charge of
Call of Duty, Warcraft, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, StarCraft and more.
While this announcement didn't confirm an exact price, reports suggest they've paid an enormous $70 billion payout for their latest acquisition. If true, that's completely dwarfed the $7.5 billion previously paid for Bethesda.
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Microsoft Has Acquired Activision Blizzard for $70 Billion
On Xbox Wire, head of Xbox Phil Spencer issued this statement about the shocking acquisition:
Over many decades, the studios and teams that make up Activision Blizzard have earned vast wellsprings of joy and respect from billions of people all over the world. We are incredibly excited to have the chance to work with the amazing, talented, dedicated people across Activision.
It's a move that'll put them in charge of another 14 teams: Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob, and Treyarch.
Furthermore, Spencer also confirms that they'll also be offering "as many Activision Blizzard games as we can" on Xbox and PC Game Pass, confirming they've now hit 25 million subscribers. That'll range between "both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog."
We still can't quite believe this has happened, and it's a move with drastic implications for the gaming community. We'll keep you informed with further developments as they happen.