Microsoft is seeking to complete the purchase of Activision Blizzard, one of the world's largest video game companies, for $69 billion.
This deal - if implemented - is a step towards the integration that Microsoft seeks to reach, as it combines the business of game units such as "Xbox", which already owns huge games such as "Minecraft" (Mine craft) and "Halo" ( Halo) with one of the most valuable gaming companies in the world, which owns famous games and giant names in the field of games such as “Call of Duty”, “World of Warcraft” and “Candy Crush” Crush).
While TV shows and movies get a lot of media attention, video games get a lot of ordinary people, and Microsoft says there are 3 billion gamers around the world today, and that number will reach 4.5 billion by 2030.
Microsoft is also planning behind this deal to have a share of the future of virtual reality or "metaverse" that we've been hearing about for the past two years, and this world is sure to be founded around games.
And that's something Microsoft has been planning for a while, as they weren't working on their own VR glasses by coincidence, to justify their deal.
“When we think about our vision of what metaverses could be, we think there won't be a single central metaverse,” says Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, after the deal was announced Tuesday.
Microsoft already owns huge games such as "Minecraft" and "Halo" (Reuters)
This deal is sure to attract a lot of attention in Washington, which has been focusing on deals big and small by the tech giants, especially with the presence of Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, along with the rest of the Antitrust Committee under the administration of US President Joe Biden, who are scrutinizing the acquisitions. carried out by large companies.
However, the two companies have great confidence that that deal will be completed when their case is presented to regulators in Washington, as Microsoft can argue that its Xbox business is much smaller than Sony's Play station business. (Sony) and that the future of gaming is about mobile, which means that Microsoft is competing not only with Sony but with Apple and Google as well.
Microsoft already has 25 million subscribers to its game service, Game Pass.
Analysts don't expect Microsoft to make most of the big Activision games exclusive to Game Pass just as it does with movies and TV shows, where games are more valuable if they're available to as many people as possible.