Microsoft has finally sealed the deal on their $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. It only took 21 months. Activision confirmed the sale had been finalized in a regulatory filing on Friday, October 13th, 2023. Microsoft is now considered a video game powerhouse with this acquisition, as they own several game publishers like Bethesda.
This is the largest transaction in Microsoft history, and it is all thanks to their CEO Satya Nadella. Microsoft has cemented their place as the third-largest gaming company behind Tencent and Sony. The Activision team will now be reporting to the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer. Activision Blizzard is behind popular game franchises “Call of Duty,” “Diablo” and “Warcraft.”
The purchase of Activision Blizzard has seen many hurdles from regulators in the U.S. and U.K.. Regulators feared the acquisition would lead to an unfair market advantage in the gaming industry. The U.K.’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA) had managed to block the deal in April. The CMA conceded, removing the final major hurdle and allowed the deal to go through. Previously this summer, a U.S. judge denied a Federal Trade Commission request to prevent Microsoft wrapping up the acquisition.
The original contract for the purchase was set to expire this past July 18th. The merger deadline was extended after negotiations that would result in Microsoft paying a high fee to Activision Blizzard, should the merger fail to close.
Microsoft is expected to fully integrate Activision into their company operations now that the deal is completed. Unfortunately this will include cutting jobs in overlapping areas. The company’s next step will be aggressively mapping out this expansion of their gaming arm.
