Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard in mega $68.7 billion deal

In a stunning move, Microsoft has purchased publisher Activision Blizzard for a whopping sum of $68.7 billion. If Microsoft had stumbled in recent years with exclusives and variety of games, they’re definitely back on track. While it’s no secret that Activision Blizzard has been dealing with a number of discrimination and mistreatment allegations and legal disputes, we can only hope this is but a turning point for the veteran publisher.

While no word has been made on the exclusive nature of titles moving forward, Microsoft now have the rights to iconic and wildly popular franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch and Diablo. Microsoft commented on the historic deal, stating:

“Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog. We also announced today that Game Pass now has more than 25 million subscribers. As always, we look forward to continuing to add more value and more great games to Game Pass.

The fantastic franchises across Activision Blizzard will also accelerate our plans for Cloud Gaming, allowing more people in more places around the world to participate in the Xbox community using phones, tablets, laptops and other devices you already own. Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward.”

As with any new release or announcement, this news is sure to bolster out the increasingly impressive line-up of games on offer from Game Pass. It’s admittedly hard to encapsulate the magnitude of such a purchase just yet, as Microsoft now set out to produce and pick a range of new exclusives and iterative titles for dormant and current franchises.

Matthew Arcari

Matthew Arcari is the games and technology editor at The AU Review. You can find him on Twitter at @sirchunkee, or at the Dagobah System, chilling with Luke and Yoda.