Microsoft becomes even more powerful in the field of video games. By taking control of the Activision Blizzard studio, the software giant is getting its hands on some of the most popular licenses among gamers. And among the most lucrative.
Microsoft becomes the owner of the Activision Blizzard
The news fell without warning, on January 18, 2022. Microsoft becomes the owner of the Activision Blizzard video game studio , one of the largest in the sector.
For this operation, the software giant has deployed colossal resources: nearly 70 billion dollars (about 61.5 billion euros) are mobilized for this major operation.
This acquisition is of an exceptional scale by the amount involved. But it is a sum that allows the American company to recover a very wide range of video games, mainly on computers, but also on consoles and mobile phones. Not only the licenses of Activision and Blizzard fall into the hands of Microsoft, but also the catalog of King.
Here is the list of licenses that are now under the control of Microsoft.
The Activision games that Microsoft recovers
- Call of Duty (with in particular the recent Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 , Call of Duty: Mobile , Call of Duty: Modern Warfare , Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered and Call of Duty: Vanguard )
- Crash Bandicoot (including Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled , Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time , and Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! )
- Guitar Hero (of which Guitar Hero Live is the most recent opus)
- Skylanders (along with Skylanders: Imaginators , which is the latest released title)
- Spyro (including Spyro Reignited Trilogy )
- Tony Hawk’s (including Pro Skater 5 , Skate Jam and Pro Skater 5 )
- Blizzard games Microsoft gets Diablo (including Diablo III , Diablo IV , Diablo II Resurrected , and the future Diablo Immortal on mobile)
- Hearthstone
- Heroes of the Storm
- StarCraft (with in particular StarCraft II and StarCraft: Remastered )
- Overwatch (and future Overwatch II )
- Warcraft (especially World of Warcraft and its multiple extensions);
King games coming back to Microsoft
- Candy Crush (with many variations and variations)
- Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! (based on license from Crash Bandicoot Activation)
- Knighthood
- And a series of puzzle and puzzle type games ( Bubble Witch , Pet Rescue , Blossom Blast , Farm Heroes and the various sequels)