Microsoft blockbuster takeover upends video game market

Microsoft’s Xbox One video game console and Activision Blizzard’s ‘Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare’ video game in Denver, Colorado, US. Microsoft Corp agreed to buy Activision Blizzard Inc in a US$68.7bil deal, uniting two of the biggest forces in video games to create the world’s third-biggest gaming company. — Bloomberg

PARIS: Microsoft catapulted itself into the big league in one of the world’s most lucrative markets on Jan 18 by announcing a US$69bil (RM289.24bil) deal to take over video game maker Activision-Blizzard – the biggest acquisition in the sector’s history.

The deal will bring some of the world’s most famous games into Microsoft’s possession, including Call Of Duty, Candy Crush and Warcraft, and make it the third-largest gaming company in the world, behind only Sony and Tencent.