Microsoft køber Activision i trecifret milliardhandel

Der er penge i spilindustrien. Sidste år købte Microsoft Bethesda for 7,5 milliarder dollars (49,3 milliarder kroner), i sidste uge købte Take-Two mobiludvikleren Zynga for 12,7 milliarder dollars (84,5 milliarder kroner) og i dag har Microsoft meddelt, at de har købt Activision Blizzard for rekordbeløbet 67,8 milliarder dollars, svarende til lige omkring 450 milliarder danske kroner.

Dette er den klart største handel i spilindustrien og den største i Microsoft's historie. Microsoft kommer så også til at eje blockbuster spilserier som Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, Call of Duty, Spyro the Dragon og Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater hos Activision, Overwatch, Diablo og Warcraft hos Blizzard og ikke mindst Candy Crush fra King, som også er ejet af Activision.

Microsoft vil overtage mere end 10.000 medarbejdere fordelt på studier som Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, Demonware, Raven Software, Beenox og Radical Entertainment.

Der har som bekendt været massive problemer med kulturen hos Activision Blizzard og det gik da heller ikke usagt hen ved annonceringen af handlen. Xbox boss Phil Spencer siger:

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.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tilføjer:

Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard's incredible catalogue. 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. 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.

Dette er en kæmpe handel, som vil få mange til at slå øjnene op. Med det samme lurer spørgsmålet i baghovedet; hvilke af Activison Blizzard’s mange storspil, vil Microsoft gøre eksklusive? Tør man næsten tænke tanken, at Call of Duty kunne blive eksklusiv på Xbox og PC?

Kom med dine tanker nedenfor!