Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard

Microsoft has announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion. The deal, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, will bring together two leaders in creating entertaining and innovative gaming experiences across PC, console, mobile, and tablet platforms. The acquisition accelerates Microsoft’s ongoing transition from being primarily software focused to becoming a player in the world of hardware and services designed around the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI).

Quick Overview

The software maker expects to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, with plans to introduce new game titles from developers owned by Microsoft in their current franchises and new franchises. If you’re wondering what led Microsoft to make such a massive acquisition, it’s because its rival Sony is about to release PlayStation VR and competitor Oculus VR is soon launching Oculus Touch—which will likely encourage gamers away from using Xbox One controllers (and not just for virtual reality) by enticing them with full-body controls via VR controllers. Microsoft seems poised to take advantage of that shift in gaming market share by acquiring one of biggest names in console gaming today.

How will it benefit Microsoft?

Microsoft is making waves in investment in virtual reality and augmented reality, investing over $100 million in research and development for technologies such as HoloLens AR headsets, VR headsets such as Oculus Rift, and Microsoft has launched a Mixed Reality dev kit called Windows Mixed Reality Development Edition. The Metaverse platform offers an open-source solution that allows developers to create immersive worlds; it is not just limited to gaming alone, but instead can be used as a multi-user interactive experience. For example, allow users to walk around their house while seeing an avatar of themselves projected into a video game or interactive program.

What is Metaverse?

Metaverse is a protocol for virtual universes which uses blockchain technology to build decentralized online communities. Through transnational networks of shared digital space, Metaverse blurs physical world borders and opens infinite possibilities for value transfers through interactions between participants from all over the world. By extending support for non-fungible tokens, smart contracts, Oracle, and other extensions on public blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, Metaverse builds an open ecosystem in which all values in all forms can be registered and exchanged freely. The development team hopes that Metaverse will be used by businesses as their underlying public blockchain infrastructure to take advantage of greater scalability compared with first-generation public blockchains while still retaining decentralization of data.

What we think about it?

In just 2 years, Microsoft has changed their strategy from hardware and software conglomerate to one of world leading metaverse platforms. The acquisition of a large gaming company like Activision is a huge step in that direction and seems to explain Microsoft’s decision to continue putting pressure on Sony and Nintendo by building their new product around backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games rather than hardware exclusives. Additionally, although online games are a competitor to their XBox Live platform, it’s worth noting that they seem poised to take over all aspects of gaming with an advanced metaverse platform called Project xCloud. In fact, we expect more acquisitions like this will happen as other companies notice Microsoft’s success and attempt it themselves. Definitely an interesting time in tech and esports!