As if Activision Blizzard wasn’t a big enough superpower in the games industry already, the company has just now officially finished its acquisition of the studio behind Candy Crush: King Digital Entertainment.
The two companies announced the acquisition earlier today, a move which has cost Activision Blizzard a cool $5.9 billion in the process. The new marriage of two vastly different sectors of the video game market means that Activision Blizzard (King?) is now the largest games company in the world, having a global user base of over 500 million people. Mental.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick released a statement too, expressing his excitement for the future of both companies moving forward.
We see great opportunities to create new ways for audiences to experience their favourite franchises, from Candy Crush to World of Warcraft to Call of Duty and more, across mobile devices, consoles and personal computers. On behalf of Activision Blizzard, we are delighted to welcome Riccardo, Sebastian, Stephane and all of King’s talented employees to our family.
Despite what many might expect of what follows after a business is acquired by another, Activision Blizzard has stated that King will retain most – if not all – of its current upper management, operating on a largely independent basis from its new parent company.
Considering the vastly different sectors of the market that both businesses cater too, we’re not sure why Activision Blizzard pursued such an acquisition – it’s not as if the two were in direct competition with each other. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see what type of lasting effect the move will have on the both of them.