In the early hours of Tuesday, Microsoft announced it had been in talks to acquire the scandal-plagued Activision Blizzard in a deal worth nearly $70 billion in a post on Xbox Wire. (The deal consists of Microsoft paying $95 per share, according to gamesindustry.biz.)
The news comes at a tumultuous time: In July, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing brought a lawsuit against the company accusing them of discrimination against women and people of color and numerous instances of sexual harassment. They’re also in the middle of an investigation by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), and both the Communications Workers of America and Activision Blizzard shareholders have brought forth class-action lawsuits.
A Better ABK was formed in light of this news, demanding an end to mandatory arbitration, improving representation, transparency in pay, and an audit by a third party. The group started a Strike Fund in early December for workers participating in the Raven Software QA walkout, and “assisting with the relocation of any Raven QA who had moved unassisted” at the request of Activision Blizzard. So far, the fund has raised just over $370,000.
Xbox head Phil Spencer had this to say about the acquisition: “Microsoft is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming, among both employees and players. We deeply value individual studio cultures. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment. We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.”
For those who need a quick primer of what exactly this acquisition will entail, the Activision Blizzard King banner includes Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob and Treyarch. (Vicarious Visions became part of Activision in 2005, and in 2021 was moved to be a subsidiary of Blizzard. In October 2021, Blizzard told employees of Vicarious Visions that that name would be dropped as part of the merger.)
The deal is expected to close no sooner than June of 2023, with Bobby Kotick staying on as CEO in the interim. Several sources have reported that Kotick has said after the deal is closed, he’ll step down, but if he does not, he’ll be reporting to Spencer.
At the close of the deal next year, it’s expected that many Activision Blizzard games will join the Xbox Game Pass catalog, the announcement stating “we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog” while noting that Game Pass recently reached 25 million subscribers.