Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion

Microsoft is acquiring Activision, the troubled publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo. The deal will value Activision at $68.7 billion, far in excess of the $26 billion Microsoft paid to acquire LinkedIn in 2016. It's Microsoft's biggest push into gaming, and the company says it will be the "third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony" once the deal closes.

"Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms," Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said in a company statement.

"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," he added.

The buyout is expected to close sometime in Microsoft's fiscal 2023 (no later than June 2023) if regulators and Activision Blizzard shareholders greenlight the move. The boards of directors for both companies have already approved the deal.

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