Famous technology giant Microsoft has moved to acquire Activision Blizzard, the prominent video gaming publisher responsible for titles such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo, among others.
Activision Blizzard has been valued at $68.7 billion, with The Verge noting that this figure vastly exceeds the $26 billion Microsoft purchased LinkedIn for in 2016, and marks the company’s “biggest push into gaming” as it is poised to become the “third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony."
“Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalogue,” Microsoft CEO of Gaming Phil Spencer said.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also declared that the company is “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.”
As the media outlet points out, the deal comes after Activision Blizzard witnessed numerous sexual misconduct claims brought against it, with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing even suing the company for promoting a culture of “constant sexual harassment.”
Last year, Microsoft also acquired ZeniMax Media, the video game holding company and owner of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks.