The tech giant, Microsoft Corporation announced on Tuesday that it was set to purchase US gaming giant Activision Blizzard for a record-breaking sum of $69 billion.
Microsoft said in a statement, “This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console, and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse.”
Activision Blizzard is presently involved in several sexual harassment scandals and the merger is projected to make Microsoft the third-largest company by revenue behind other competitors, Tencent and Sony.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Activision has received over 700 reports since March 2021 regarding sexual harassment or assault and other misconduct especially against female employees of the gaming company.
Games made by Activision Blizzard include the Candy Crush Saga, Call of Duty series, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, etc.
Analysts predict that the acquisition of Activision by Microsoft would boost its power and position in the gaming industry, especially with Microsoft-owned Xbox consoles.
The video gaming industry is valued at about $173.7Bn in 2020 and Xbox remains a key player in this sector.
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