Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft for roughly $70 billion

Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft for roughly $70 billion

While not Nintendo news … we can not skip this big of an announcement; Activision Blizzard was recently bought by Microsoft, so yeah you probably already heard the rumblings.

With the $68.7 billion deal, Microsoft now owns a slew of famous gaming titles, including Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, and a slew of others. Once the agreement is done, Xbox plans to “provide as many Activision Blizzard games as they can inside Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass,” including both old and new titles, according to the official statement.

The announcement comes little over two years after Microsoft bought Zenimax / Bethesda Softworks, the studio behind The Elder Scrolls and Doom.

Microsoft’s reason for buying Activision Blizzard

Team Xbox brings together the creators of Call of Duty, Warcraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, StarCraft, and more.

As a group, we’re on a mission to bring gaming’s pleasure and camaraderie to everyone on the earth. We’ve all heard that gaming is the most vivid and dynamic form of entertainment on the planet, and we’ve all seen the strength of social connection and camaraderie that gaming provides.

It’s tremendously thrilling to announce that Microsoft has decided to buy Activision Blizzard as part of our objective.

Activision Blizzard’s studios and teams have won immense wellsprings of delight and respect from billions of people all across the globe over many decades. We’re ecstatic to have the opportunity to collaborate with the incredible, talented, and dedicated people at Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob, Treyarch, and every other team at Activision Blizzard.

Activision Blizzard and Microsoft Gaming will continue to operate independently until the acquisition is completed. The Activision Blizzard company will report to me as CEO of Microsoft Gaming once the purchase is completed.

Upon completion, we will make available as many Activision Blizzard games as possible via Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, including both new releases and games from Activision Blizzard’s extensive library. Today, we also announced that Game Pass has surpassed 25 million members. As usual, we’re excited to be adding more value and fantastic games to Game Pass.

Our ambitions for Cloud Gaming will be accelerated by the tremendous brands across Activision Blizzard, enabling more people in more locations around the globe to engage in the Xbox community utilizing phones, tablets, computers, and other devices you already possess. Games from Activision Blizzard are played across a number of platforms, and we want to continue supporting those communities in the future.

Microsoft, as a corporation, is dedicated to achieving diversity in every facet of gaming, among both workers and gamers. Individual studio cultures are very important to us. We also think that creative achievement and liberty are inextricably linked to treating each individual with decency and respect. This is a promise that we hold all teams and leaders to. We’re excited to bring our proactive inclusion culture to all of Activision Blizzard’s fantastic teams.

There is no more exciting place for enjoyment and interaction than video games throughout the globe. And there’s never been a better moment to start playing than now. We look forward to welcome all of our friends from Activision Blizzard to Microsoft Gaming as we strive to provide the fun and community of gaming to everyone.

It’s unclear if future Activision Blizzard titles will be Xbox exclusives as of this writing.