News business Microsoft reaches a new level in billions with the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard
Microsoft has just carried out a historic transaction with the takeover of Activision-Blizzard for the astronomical sum of 68.7 billion dollars, a total record for the video game industry and for the world of multimedia. But with this takeover, the Redmond firm is certainly not on its first attempt. A look back at Microsoft’s acquisitions that exceeded one billion.
Summary
- Microsoft, the real king of Monopoly
- A bottomless purse
Microsoft, the real king of Monopoly
Microsoft is obviously one of the major players in the video game industry with the Xbox brand, but also more broadly in tech and multimedia. The firm created by Bill Gates now owns many companies that allow it to have a place of choice in the sectors of communication, computer development and video games.. If Microsoft is still passing a historic milestone with the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, it must be said that it has been buying large companies from the same industries for several years, without skimping on the budget.
Microsoft’s biggest acquisitions:
Activision Blizzard: $68.7 billion
Linkedin: $26.2 billion
Nuance: $19.7 billion
Skype: $8.5 billion
ZeniMax: $7.5 billion
GitHub: $ 7.5 billion
Nokia phone unit: $7.2 billion
aQuantive: $6.3 billion
Mojang (Minecraft): $2.5 billion— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) January 18, 2022
One of the first major acquisitions to have marked our favorite industry is still that of Mojang in 2014 for 2.5 billion dollars.. A colossal sum to afford Minecraft, the best-selling game in the world and which continues to break records today.
The other important takeover of video games is that of ZeniMax. Formalized in 2021, the transaction this time amounts to nearly 7.5 billion dollars. By buying ZeniMax, Microsoft thus offers itself the entire catalog of Bethesda Softworks, and recovers cult licenses such as Doom, Wolfenstein or Quake, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. This acquisition considerably strengthens Microsoft’s power in the video game market. The Redmond firm now enjoys exclusivity capable of greatly influencing consumer choice. however, these acquisitions are still all relative to the sums that the giant has been able to put on the table for other companies.
A bottomless purse
Microsoft broke its piggy bank in more ways than one to afford major companies. Skype, the online chat application was acquired for 8.5 billion dollars and is now an integral part of Windows services.
Always with a view to strengthening the strengths of its OS, the Redmond company has acquired Nuance, a company specializing in voice recognition. The technology developed by Nuance has thus enabled Microsoft to improve the capabilities of its virtual assistant Cortana, but also to offer more accessibility for its users with disabilities.. Finally, one of the giant’s most important purchases is still that of Linkedin. The professional social network is now number 1 in its sector.
It is quite crazy to think that in 2022, Microsoft breaks its previous records to acquire Activision-Blizzard. 68.7 billion dollars, a historic acquisition that allows Microsoft and Xbox to once once more complete their already substantial gaming offer. This purchase not only includes flagship licenses like Call of Duty, Diablo, World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Overwatch, but also the many mobile games from the King studio, including Candy Crush Saga. There is no doubt that this action will have significant consequences on the video game market in the near future. It remains to be seen how many of these licenses will become exclusive to the Microsoft ecosystem (Xbox + PC), but the supremacy of Game Pass over video game services is not ready to end.
Through Sengsunn, Writing jeuxvideo.com
MP