Microsoft to buy “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard in $68.7-billion deal

Tags: Economics/Business

Indian-born Satya Nadella led Microsoft Corporation has agreed to buy “Call of Duty” video game maker Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash. This is the largest deal in the gaming sector, making the Xbox maker the third-largest gaming company by revenue behind Japan’s Sony and China’s Tencent. The merger is expected to be finalized next year.

• Activision's library of games includes games like “Call of Duty” and 'Overwatch', ‘World of Warcraft’, ‘Candy Crush’ among others
• Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard
• Demand for video games has surged during the pandemic, as stuck-at-home consumers play more games to keep themselves entertained
• Last week, rival videogame publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. said it would buy 'FarmVille' creator Zynga in an $11 billion cash-and-stock deal, marking another biggest industry-wide acquisition of all time