Microsoft buys Activision for $68 billion

Aiden Stanciu and Stavros Hatzopoulos|January 24, 2022

Photo courtesy of Xbox Wire

Microsoft just became the third-largest gaming company in revenue as of Tuesday, January 18.

According to the Verge, the tech giant has set its eyes on buying the popular video game corporation Activision, the publisher of several iconic games such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and Overwatch, for a whopping $68 billion. The purchase is set to widely expand Microsoft’s influence in the gaming industry, according to Xbox CEO Phil Spencer.

“Upon closing, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within the Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass,” he said in a recent interview.

The grand purchase was made after scandalous accusations of sexual misconduct within the Activision workplace, which have damaged the company’s reputation in recent months to the point of multiple worker strikes within studios like Toys for Bob and Raven Software.

Activision Blizzard had long been the subject of controversy regarding sexual harassment, poor leadership under CEO Bobby Kotick, mass layoffs, unfair scheduling, and an overall horrendous workplace environment. It was to the point where even the state of California sued the company, saying the workplace housed a “frat boy” culture and, according to a report from Axios, accusing them of shredding vital evidence of abuse as stated.

Spencer has been “reevaluating” Xbox’s relationship with Activision according to Bloomberg reports and now hopes to solve these problems in the future, stating “I believe the leaders there believe in the opportunity they have in their plan,” in an interview with the Washington Post.

He also talks about the possibility of bringing back old franchises as well, beyond popular games like Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Overwatch.

“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to work with them when the deal closes to make sure we have resources to work on franchises that I love from my childhood and that the teams really want to get,” Spencer says.

In regards to exclusivity, there is not much info on what games will become exclusive to Xbox. However, Spencer has since made a tweet insuring that Call of Duty, a best-seller on PlayStation, will remain multi-platform.

“Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony,” Spencer tweeted. “I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship.”

As for the future of Microsoft Gaming, the transition will not run through without some major change, including leadership. Once Microsoft’s deal with Activision closes, Phil Spencer will take over as CEO and the company will be absorbed into Microsoft Gaming, kicking Kotick out of the position.

“This change is a reflection of the incredible work each of you are doing to create the best entertainment ecosystem anywhere.” Spencer says. “As a leadership team, we know how much exciting but difficult work we have ahead of us, so it’s crucial that we operate as a single, unified team.”