Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard: 5 biggest gaming industry acquisitions

Over the past couple of decades, gaming has slowly but steadily grown to become one of the biggest industries in the entertainment sector. The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions only aided the meteoric rise of the industry, and as it stands, gaming is a bigger industry that movies and North American sports combined.

With more than 2.5 billion people around the world playing video games across several platforms, the gaming industry is expected to generate a whopping $194.7 billion by 2025, according to PwC.

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Given the industry’s explosive growth, several major acquisitions have taken place in the industry. The biggest acquisitions in the gaming history are listed below.

1. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard:

On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced that it would acquire ‘Call of Duty‘-makers Activision Blizzard for a whopping $67.8 billion in an all cash deal, making it the biggest acquisition in gaming history by quite some distance.

2. Take-Two Interactive’s acquisition of Zynga:

Another acquisition in the gaming industry made the headlines in 2022, when ‘Grand Theft Auto’ publishers Take-Two Interactive announced its takeover of mobile gaming giants Zynga for $12.7 billion. Zynga is known for making mobile titles such as ‘FarmVille’, ‘Zynga Poker’, and ‘Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells’.

3. Tencent’s acquisition of Supercell:

Popular mobile game maker, Supercell, known for titles such as ‘Clash of Clans’ and ‘Clash Royale’ was acquired by Chinese giants Tencent in 2016 for $10.2 billion, making it the third biggest acquisition in gaming history.

4. Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda Softworks (ZeniMax Media):

Bethesda Softworks is nothing short of a household name among gamers, and is known for making ageless titles such as the ‘Elder Scrolls’ series and the ‘Fallout’ series. Bethesda’s holding company, ZeniMax Media, was acquired by Microsoft in an all cash deal in September 2020, at a cost of $7.5 billion.

5. Activision Blizzard’s acquisition of King:

‘Candy Crush Saga’-makers King made a massive name for itself through its popular mobile game instalments, and was acquired by gaming giants Activision Blizzard in 2016 for $5.9 billion, making it the fifth biggest acquisition in gaming history.