The biggest business deal in the history of the gaming world has finally been executed. Amidst countless controversies and opposition Microsoft has finally acquired Activision Blizzard for $69 Billion.
The acquisition took around 20 months to take shape after Microsoft expressed its willingness to buy the game publisher in January 2022. After battles with regulators in the UK and US, Microsoft finally closed the deal after beating the Federal Trade Commission in a US federal court earlier on October 13, 2023. Further, it also restructured the deal to appease the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK.
While the big news sent a wave of joy at the Microsoft office, it left the opposers like the FTC fuming. Meanwhile, Xbox players rejoiced as they would now get a new set of games to binge on. On the other hand, non-Xbox players are a little disappointed that sooner or later they would lose access to their favorite Activision games, since Microsoft may now make these titles Xbox exclusive.
Biggest titles by Activision Blizzard King
Whatever the outcome of the deal may be, it is sure that Microsoft is going to use the acquisition to its full potential and increase its revenues. Here are the 10 biggest games by Activision Blizzard that are now in the hands of Microsoft:
1. Call of Duty
The Call of Duty franchise is undoubtedly the biggest game under the Activision banner. The first-person shooter game is published by Activision, contributing a huge chunk of Activision’s revenues. Ever since its first launch in 2003, Call of Duty has around 22 mainline games including OPS, Warzone, Warfare, and others.
2. Diablo
Diablo is an action role-playing dungeon crawler video game series from the hood of Activision. It was first launched by Blizzard North in 1997 and continued by Blizzard Entertainment after the North studio shut down in 2005.
It later came under the Activision Blizzard banner after Activion acquired Blizzard Entertainment. The series includes four core games: Diablo, Diablo II, Diablo III, and Diablo IV along with other third-party expansions.
3. Overwatch
Overwatch revolves around a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter video games. It was developed by Blizzard Entertainment first in 2016. Later Overwatch 2 was released last year. Both games have a hero-based combat featuring two teams of players.
4. World Of Warcraft
World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), which first released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. To date, World of Warcraft has nine major expansions, namely, The Burning Crusade (2007), Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Cataclysm (2010), Mists of Pandaria (2012), Warlords of Draenor (2014), Legion (2016), Battle for Azeroth (2018), Shadowlands (2020), and Dragonflight (2022).
5. Warcraft
Warcraft is Blizzard Entertainment’s franchise of video games, novels, and other media. The series includes five core games, namely, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone.
6. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an action-adventure game developed by FromSoftware for Japan in 2019. The game was then developed for a global audience by Activision. Sekiro has many awards to its name including The Game Awards Game of the Year among others.
7. Hearthstone
Hearthstone is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game. It is a part of the Warcraft franchise and was developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2014. It was originally subtitled as ‘Heroes of Warcraft.’
The game builds upon the existing story of the Warcraft series using the same elements, characters, and relics as that of the base game.
8. StarCraft
StarCraft is a real-time strategy video game that was first developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows in 1998, and later for Classic Mac OS in 1999, and by Nintendo in 2000. Its sequel, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, was launched in July 2010, followed by two expansions and a campaign between 2013 and 2016. A remastered edition of the original and its expansion pack was released in August 2017.
9. Candy Crush
Candy Crush Saga is another free-to-play game under Activision. It is a tile-matching video game released by King in 2012, originally for Facebook, followed by other platforms. Developer King was acquired by Activision Blizzard in February 2016, thus bringing the famous recreational game to Activision.
10. Bubble Witch 3 Saga
Bubble Witch Saga 3 (Wilbur) is a casual shooter game developed by King in January 2016. Players get to rescue magic animals trapped inside colorful bubbles. Similar to Candy Crush, Bubble Witch 3 Saga came under Activision’s banner just a month after its release.
These are just the top 10 Activision Games that will now belong to Microsoft. Apart from these, Activision has a huge catalog of games that will now be owned by Microsoft, thanks to the acquisition deal.