Microsoft Now Owns Call of Duty Maker Activision Blizzard

San Francisco: Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it would acquire Activision Blizzard, the maker of blockbuster games such as Call of Duty (CoD) and Warcraft, for a staggering $68.7 billion in the largest gaming transaction ever.

If the deal is completed, Microsoft will overtake Tencent and Sony as the world's third-largest gaming firms by revenue.

In addition to worldwide eSports activities through Major League Gaming, the projected acquisition includes legendary franchises from Activision, Blizzard, and King studios like "Warcraft," "Diablo," "Overwatch," "Call of Duty," and "Candy Crush."

The corporation employs almost 10,000 people in studios all over the world.

"We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all," Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said.

"Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms," he added.

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This acquisition will help Microsoft's game business grow across mobile, PC, console, and cloud platforms, as well as supply metaverse building blocks.

Activision Blizzard's CEO, Bobby Kotick, will remain in his position.

After the transaction is completed, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming's CEO.

"For more than 30 years, our incredibly talented teams have created some of the most successful games," Kotick added.

"The combination of Activision Blizzard’s world-class talent and extraordinary franchises with Microsoft’s technology, distribution, access to talent, ambitious vision, and shared commitment to gaming and inclusion will help ensure our continued success in an increasingly competitive industry," he added.

Mobile gaming is the most popular, with 95 per cent of all players playing games on their phones.

With plans to launch Activision Blizzard games into Game Pass, which has reached a new milestone of over 25 million members, the acquisition significantly strengthens Microsoft's Game Pass catalogue.

This acquisition will provide Game Pass with one of the most engaging and diverse portfolios of gaming material in the business, according to Microsoft, thanks to Activision Blizzard's over 400 million monthly active gamers in 190 countries and three billion-dollar franchises.

Microsoft will have 30 internal game development studios as well as extra publishing and esports production capabilities when the deal is completed.

The transaction is set to be finalised in the fiscal year 2023.