The United States will conduct an antitrust review of Microsoft’s plan to acquire Activision Blizzard. The U.S. antitrust review of Microsoft Corp’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard will fall to the Federal Trade Commission, people familiar with the matter said, handing the deal over to a more aggressive agency.
Microsoft recently announced that it plans to acquire Activision Blizzard, a game developer and interactive entertainment content publisher, for $95 per share in cash, with a total transaction value of approximately $68.7 billion (Microsoft’s fiscal 21 revenue of $168.1 billion, net profit 61.2 billion). It was Microsoft’s largest acquisition ever, making it the world’s third-largest gaming company after Tencent and Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Subsequently, Microsoft game director Phil Spencer confirmed in a statement that Xbox has agreed to acquire Activision Blizzard, which now owns Call of Duty, Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Crash Bandicoot, StarCraft Hegemony and other IPs; in the future, Activision Blizzard’s games will join the Xbox console and PC version of XGP, and the total number of XGP users has since exceeded 25 million.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to collaborate with Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob, Treyarch and Action Watch every team at Blizzard.
“Until the transaction closes, Activision Blizzard and Microsoft Games will continue to operate independently. Once the transaction closes, Activision Blizzard’s business will report to me (Microsoft Gaming CEO).”