Microsoft to absorb gaming’s original third-party developer

» [PC] Call Of Duty will become just one of many iconic FPS series Microsoft owns – others include Halo, Doom and Perfect Dark.

Industry observers will have taken keen interest in Microsoft’s game studio acquisitions over the last few years – the company swallowed up eight companies between 2018 and 2020, the largest of which was Doom and Wolfenstein owner ZeniMax Media. However, the company’s latest deal looks set to dwarf all of those combined as it has announced plans to purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. If the acquisition proceeds as planned, it will be Microsoft’s largest ever, comfortably surpassing the $26.2 billion it paid for the business-oriented social network LinkedIn in 2016.

Activision has been a constant presence in the videogame market since 1979, when it was founded by ex-Atari programmers who were frustrated with a lack of recognition and royalties. The company initially did well with Atari 2600 releases, but struggled in the wake of the market crash and by 1986, all of the original founders had left the company. After a period of decline and a brief name change to Mediagenic, the company was purchased in 1991 for $500,000 by a group of investors led by presentday CEO Bobby Kotick. A massive restructuring effort followed and by 1997 Activision started to acquire companies – first Raven Software, then over the following years the likes of Neversoft, Treyarch and Toys For Bob by 2005. In 2008, Activision merged with Blizzard owner Vivendi Games to create Activision Blizzard and overtake Electronic Arts as gaming’s largest third-party publisher.