Microsoft announced its plans to acquire one of the world’s biggest and most popular video game publishers, Activision. The deal is valued at over $68.7 billion, which is more than double of what Microsoft paid for LinkedIn back in 2016, which it acquired for $26 billion. Microsoft has been slowly purchasing some of the biggest game publishers in the world, including Bethesda, which will allow it to become the “third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony”.

For those unaware, Activision owns the likes of Diablo, Call of Duty franchise, Candy Crush, Overwatch, and Warcraft. If the deal goes through, it would make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company in the world, and it would have a lot more influence to make users into paying Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

“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 a company, Microsoft is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming, among both employees and players. We deeply value individual studio cultures. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment. We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.” said Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

In the same announcement, Microsoft also announced that it now boasts more than 25 million Xbox Game Pass subscribers, and the company is planning on further boosting its paying service with even more titles as it acquires more gaming studios.

“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.”

Microsoft is also planning on adding Activision’s games to the Xbox Game Pass once the deal closes, and the company will act independently until the deal fully closes. This is unsurprising, but it remains to be seen what the regulators will say about the deal, which will give Microsoft a lot of leverage over other publishers and platforms.

“Until this transaction closes, Activision Blizzard and Microsoft Gaming will continue to operate independently. Once the deal is complete, the Activision Blizzard business will report to me as CEO, Microsoft Gaming.”

What do you think of Microsoft's new acquisition deal? Would you be happy to see Activision join the Xbox universe? Let us know in the comments below!