Microsoft Finally Buys Activision For $69 Billion After Regulatory Approval
Summary
Activision Blizzard announced the deal was completed in a securities filing on Friday, after the deal was approved earlier by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority, which said Microsoft addressed the agency’s concern about competition in the emerging cloud gaming space. Microsoft is the third-largest gaming company in the world by revenue after acquiring Activision Blizzard, trailing Tencent and Sony. Sony also warned the merger could prevent PlayStation gamers from playing popular Activision Blizzard games, including the Call of Duty franchise, though Microsoft later offered a 10-year deal to allow future Call of Duty releases on the PlayStation. The deal was also approved by the European Commission, after Microsoft agreed to let Activision Blizzard games be played on other cloud services. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick suggested the merger would “enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry.” Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is the latest for the company, following deals to acquire ZeniMax Media—which owns the video game firm Bethesda Softworks—for $7.5 billion in 2020 and a $26.2 billion deal to acquire LinkedIn in 2016.
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