Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it intends to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, marking the largest acquisition in the gaming industry’s history.
Activision Blizzard, best known for games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch, has produced several highly successful games in the esports industry. However, the company has lost employees and fans after a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing revealed its “pervasive frat boy workplace culture.”
“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a press release. “We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community, and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive, and accessible to all.”
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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will continue to serve and report to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, according to the press release. Kotick has been accused of hiding details about efforts to remove employees connected to sexual harassment investigations.
The DFEH filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in July, alleging female employees were subjected to a “pervasive frat boy workplace culture,” including sexual banter and rape jokes. The company initially dismissed the lawsuit and led to several employees and executives stepping down, including former Blizzard President J. Allen Brack and the company’s head of Human Resources.
The DFEH also accused Activision Blizzard of shredding evidence in a new filing in August. Kotick was subpoenaed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the regulatory agency announced a wide-reaching investigation into Activision Blizzard.
Several employees have organized protests against Activision Blizzard’s conduct and have called for Kotick to resign.
Microsoft’s press release does not mention the DFEH investigation or the concerns about sexual harassment.
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Microsoft’s acquisition comes less than a year after the company finalized its $7.5 billion deal for Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, in March 2021.
It’s not the only company to expand its gaming operations in the last month. Take-Two Interactive, the creator of Grand Theft Auto, acquired Farmville developer Zynga on Jan. 10 for $12.7 billion, the largest acquisition in gaming to date.
Riot Games, the producer of League of Legends, resolved its DFEH lawsuit in December with a $100 million payout after the California regulatory agency accused the company of gender discrimination.
