Microsoft Just Made the Biggest Deal in Tech History of US$70bn

It puts mega franchises like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush into Microsoft’s hands.

Microsoft just made one helluva huge move that’s got jaws dropping and fingers wagging.

The tech company is buying games publisher Activision Blizzard for US$68.7bn (A$95bn), making history as the biggest tech deal ever. Microsoft’s last mammoth takeover was of LinkedIn in 2016 for $26bn, which pales in comparison.

This will make Microsoft the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind China’s Tencent and Japan’s Sony.

The chairman and chief executive of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, said “gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms”.

If you’re still stumped on all this metaverse stuff, you can check out our explainer here. Essentially, Microsoft reckons gaming is an integral part of the metaverse, in which people will be immersed in virtual worlds and have their own avatars.

It is true that during the pandemic there has been a boom in gaming and its relevance to the ‘meta’ world.

But if you visit Twitter or gaming forums, you may notice a fair amount of backlash against this move.

God, everything about the idea of a Microsoft acquisition of Activision/Blizzard is kind of upsetting.

— Chris Franklin (@Campster) January 18, 2022

Microsoft buying Activision pic.twitter.com/DKASyrrfUK

— Violent Ben (@honzogonzo) January 18, 2022

Microsoft owns Xbox, and Sony owns PlayStation. We can call them rivals.

There is concern that this deal is monopolistic, meaning Microsoft will become too dominant in the gaming industry and outstrip competitors, such as Sony.

By owning Activision Blizzard, and huge game franchises such as Call of Duty, Microsoft could technically do Xbox-only releases, or give additional features to their console. PlayStation owners could be severely done dirty.

*Microsoft buys Activision*

Sony: pic.twitter.com/KzqFFw9TNW

— shbz (@shbzz) January 18, 2022

Time will tell how this deal will play out. Til then, imma get back to Candy Crush.