Software and technology giant Microsoft dropped a bomb on the video game and Metaverse. The company announced that it will acquire Activision Blizzard, one of the largest video game companies in the world, in an all-cash transaction with an estimated value of $68.7 billion or $95 per share.
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Once the deal closes, around 2023, Microsoft is set to become one of the largest gaming companies in terms of revenues, only surpassed by China’s Tencent and Sony. The acquisition will give Microsoft control over such popular titles such as “Call of Duty”, “World of Warcraft”, “Diablo”, “Overwatch”, and others.
In addition, the tech giant expects the deal to aid their effort to expand in a key sector. According to an official post:
This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse.
As Bitcoinist reported two months ago, Microsoft has been doubling down its effort to enter the Metaverse. The software company’s Director of Strategy and Transformation, Blockchain, and Cloud Hardware Supply Chain, Yorke Rhodes called on potential candidates to postulate for a position on Microsoft’s new team create with that objective.
In addition, Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO at Microsoft, called the Metaverse a permanent sector that will continue to “transform how we see the world”. The executive claimed this sector will also change the way people interact, justifying the company’s ambition to expand its presence in the gaming industry as part of a bigger strategy.
Nadella said the following on the deal announcement with Activision Blizzard:
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. 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 Steps Up Its Metaverse Game
Per The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has been struggling with its competition to enter the Metaverse. The company recently lost as much as 100 of its team from HoloLens, the augmented reality gadget, to Meta, previously known as Facebook.
The social media giant led by Mark Zuckerberg is just one of the tech giants trying to make its way into the digital sector. Big companies with global reach, like Walmart, VISA, and others in the gaming industry, including Electronic Arts (EA), and Ubisoft) have also expressed interest in the Metaverse and the Non-Fungible Token (NFTs) sector.
However, as news of the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard deal come through, players are left wondering what is going to happen with the latter company and the hostile working environment denounce by some of its employees, the accessibility of major titles like Call of Duty for other non-Microsoft based platforms, and more.
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As of press time, Metaverse’s Decentraland token MANA trades to the downside following the general sentiment in the crypto market.
