Microsoft intends to purchase Activision Blizzard, the maker of Call of Duty, for almost $70 billion

Microsoft has announced that it will purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion (£50.57 billion).

It would be the company’s largest acquisition to date, and it is slated to close in 2023. Game franchises such as Call of Duty, Warcraft, and Overwatch will now be solely owned by Microsoft.

Microsoft expects it to aid in the expansion of its game business across mobile, PC, and console platforms, as well as supply metaverse building blocks.

This is the largest gaming acquisition in history, and it comes a year after Microsoft paid $7.5 billion for another famous game company, Bethesda.

Activision Blizzard employs roughly 10,000 people in studios all over the world. In recent months, it has faced allegations of a poisonous workplace atmosphere as well as sexual harassment claims.

Last year, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer expressed his displeasure with the charges, calling them “very troubling.”

Activision Blizzard makes some of the most popular games in the world, from Call of Duty to Candy Crush. The corporation has billion-dollar franchises and approximately 400 million active monthly gamers in 190 countries. According to the company, Activision Blizzard games will be added to Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription programme.

The arrangement has startled the gambling industry. In a world of increasing competition, content reigns supreme. Some argue that this is due to Sony’s machines having more compelling exclusive titles in recent years games that can’t be played on a range of platforms.

To entice more players to their platforms, exclusive titles and experiences are essential. It’s unclear whether Activision Blizzard games, which are currently available on both Microsoft and Sony platforms, will become Xbox exclusives.

With Xbox believing that a Netflix-style gaming subscription is the way of the future, being able to offer more material tied to these large titles on their service will be a huge plus.

It was expected that when Microsoft bought Bethesda in 2021, the developer of the Fallout and Skyrim series would continue to make games for other platforms. Starfield, their impending big release, will now be a Microsoft exclusive.