Does Microsoft control Blizzard?

Microsoft's Bid to Buy Activision Blizzard

Back in January 2022, Microsoft made a $68.7 billion bid to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard. This would mean taking ownership of some of the brand's largest properties, including World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, along with a slew of other games.

Will Blizzard be owned by Microsoft?

January 18, 2022 - Microsoft Announces It Will Acquire Activision Blizzard.

What happens if Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard?

Activision Blizzard own the Call of Duty franchise, one of the biggest in gaming history. If Microsoft's acquisition deal closes, they will own the Call of Duty series, and be able to do whatever they want with it on their Xbox systems going forward. Microsoft could have bought other companies, but it already did.

Who owns majority of Blizzard?

Its shares are owned by a large number of individual and institutional investors. The biggest individual investors are Warren Buffett's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth management fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

What will Microsoft do to Blizzard?

On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced that it planned to buy Activision Blizzard King—the mega-publisher behind games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush—in a deal worth nearly $70 billion.

Asmongold on BLIZZARD-Microsoft. What Will REALLY Happen Now

What does Microsoft want to do with Blizzard?

In January 2022, Microsoft announced it had plans to buy Activision Blizzard, one of the world's largest games publishers, for $68.7 billion. That's a figure significantly higher than the $7.5 billion it paid for Bethesda Gameworks two years earlier.

Why Microsoft buys Blizzard?

Microsoft says it needs the deal to boost the Xbox

Microsoft says buying Activision would let it put more big titles on Game Pass - its Netflix-style subscription - and make more games for mobile phones, where there are big profits to be made.

Will the Microsoft Activision deal close?

Microsoft Still Targets July 2023 as Closure Date for Its $69 Billion Activision Blizzard Deal.

Why did Blizzard let Activision buy them?

Activision and Blizzard wanted to unlock the potential of Blizzard's value in intellectual properties by getting it away from a huge conglomerate like Vivendi. So with the help of Tencent, Activision purchased Blizzard from Vivendi. That is why ATVI stock is now listed as Activision/Blizzard.

Is Microsoft in charge of Blizzard?

Announcement. On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in an all-cash deal, or approximately $95 per share. Activision Blizzard's stock price jumped nearly 40% that day in pre-market trading.

Did Microsoft overpay for Activision?

Most people think that Microsoft overpaid with the $70 billion price tag on Activision Blizzard. Not necessarily. People tend to look at this as a consolidation deal, where Microsoft buying a company at a decline, which is not. The important point of the deal was to facilitate Category Acceleration.

Is Microsoft buying Warcraft?

“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.” The acquisition of Activision Blizzard is by far the largest takeover in the history of Microsoft.

Will Microsoft layoff Blizzard employees?

One year after announcing Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft is laying off 10,000 employees. The cuts come as consumer digital spending slows and fears of a recession persist.

What will happen to WoW after Microsoft purchase?

The deal won't finalize before June 2023, so nothing is changing for a good while. MrGM anticipates World of Warcraft could potentially be added to Microsoft's PC Game Pass. WoW can already be played with controllers, so the game could potentially see a release on consoles in the future.

Does Microsoft own WoW now?

This sale is also massive in terms of the game franchises Microsoft now has control over; it now owns blockbuster franchises such as Call of Duty, Diablo, Starcraft, Candy Crush and World of Warcraft.

Will Xbox own World of Warcraft?

Xbox is Acquiring Activision Blizzard, Will Own Call of Duty, Warcraft, and More. In a shock announcement, Microsoft confirms its plan to acquire Call of Duty company Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion.

Who owns overwatch now?

Blizzard released Overwatch 2 via early access on October 4, 2022. The game was made free-to-play on PC and for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X platforms, and employed full cross-platform play.

What is the penalty for Microsoft Activision?

A Securities and Exchange Commission probe into Activision Blizzard has concluded with the company paying a $35 million penalty. At the heart of the probe were charges that Activision Blizzard did not have adequate procedures in place that allowed it to document employee workplace misconduct complaints.

Is Blizzard being acquired?

It said it had “reached the conclusion that the transaction is unlikely to result in substantially restraining competition in any particular fields of trade.” Here's a list of all the countries that have approved Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard so far: Japan.

Did Microsoft get blocked from buying Activision?

The planned Microsoft Activision acquisition has been provisionally blocked by the UK's antitrust watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) …

Why is FTC blocking Microsoft?

In a complaint issued today, the FTC pointed to Microsoft's record of acquiring and using valuable gaming content to suppress competition from rival consoles, including its acquisition of ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda Softworks (a well-known game developer).

What is Blizzard's most profitable game?

Using data from Sensor Tower and AppMagic, Mobilegamer.biz found out which mobile titles were the main revenue drivers for Activision Blizzard in Q3 2022. Candy Crush Saga remained the highest-grossing game, generating $316.8 million in the third quarter.

Why does Microsoft want Activision?

Buying Activision will give Microsoft ownership of many of the world's biggest games: not just Call of Duty, but others, including mobile behemoths like Candy Crush. All of those will be part of Microsoft and can be used to boost the offering of the Xbox.

Why is Blizzard suing Activision?

Activision maintains that the DFEH broke the terms of an agreement between the state and EEOC officials that the federal agency would investigate the sexual harassment claims with the state agency would focus on pay discrimination claims. The DFEH filed a lawsuit against Activision in 2021 that involved both issues.