Microsoft has decided to buy ‘CandyCrush’ video game maker Activision Blizzard for $ 68.7 billion (Rs 5.14 lakh crore). This will be the biggest takeover in Microsoft’s 46-year history. Microsoft is also the owner of popular gaming consoles like Xbox.
Activision Blizzard’s game lineup includes Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Hearthstone. According to Microsoft, the deal will accelerate the growth of its gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will also provide “building blocks” for the metaverse.
With this deal, Microsoft will get about 400 million monthly gaming users of Activision. Along with this, he will also have rights on some of the most popular games in the world. Innovation is also expected in the field of artificial intelligence and programming due to the merger of Microsoft and Activision.
After the deal, Microsoft will also become the third largest gaming company in the world in terms of revenue after China’s Tencent and Sony. The deal is expected to close by June 30, 2023. The deal is seen as a major step for Microsoft to dominate the Next Generation Internet, ie the Metaverse.
Microsoft will pay according to $ 95 / share
After the announcement of the deal, the stock of Activision Blizzard is seeing a rise. The stock rose 26% to $82.31 on Tuesday. Under the deal, Microsoft will pay Activision a 45% premium to Activision at $95/share.
Bobby Kotick to remain CEO of Activision Blizzard
Microsoft has said that Bobby Kotick will remain CEO of Activision Blizzard even after the deal. He will report to Phil Spencer. Recently he has been made the CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
Accusations of Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Against the Company
Activision Blizzard was accused of sexual harassment and discrimination against women. It was claimed that the company promotes ‘frat boy’ culture. The meaning of ‘frat boy’ is to degrade and discriminate against women.
In this case, the California administration filed a lawsuit on 20 July 2021. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of the mistreatment of women at the company for a long time. Despite this, he did not take any specific steps to improve the environment.