The recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard by the Microsoft Corporation has made its mark on the gaming industry and will forever affect the future of gaming. Microsoft’s gaming business will be enhanced in all the varying platforms from mobile to a personal computer. Not only will this purchase help Microsoft to build upon the gaming industry, but it will also help to make their footprint on the metaverse and all the other virtual worlds.

With over three billion people actively playing video games, gaming has become the fastest and largest form of entertainment in today’s modern world. Activision Blizzard, an American video game holding company, was purchased for $95 per share, which equates to around $68.7 billion in an all-cash transaction.

As a result, Microsoft will be the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. The acquisition will include popular franchises from Activision Blizzard and King studios such as “Call of Duty”, “Overwatch”, “Diablo”, “Warcraft” and “Candy Crush”, with the addition of global eSports activities with Major League Gaming. Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick will continue to be the figurehead of the company and strive to further strengthen the company’s business growth.

By acquiring Activision Blizzard, there will be a plethora of games that will be added to the Xbox Game Pass, which already has over 25 million subscribers. The lineup of video games present in the Xbox Game Pass will be one of the most diverse and compelling in the gaming industry.

Mobile gaming has one of the largest player bases in terms of concurrent players with 95% of all players globally enjoying video games on mobile. One of the most popular mobile games, Candy Crush, is now under the wing of Microsoft giving the company an opportunity to make a more significant presence in the mobile scene.

“Now that Microsoft bought out Activision Blizzard there’s no telling what the future holds for Xbox. The two companies would be set on creating quality video games for years to come,” junior Gian Castro said.

The deal is expected to close in 2023 and has been approved by the boards of directors of both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. Upon the closing of the deal, Microsoft will earn up to 30 internal game development studios along with additional publishing and eSports capabilities. Thanks to Activision’s library of games, Microsoft’s Xbox gaming platform could now have an edge over Sony’s PlayStation lineup.