Microsoft fights for Activision deal 

Microsoft says it will abandon its planned $69 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard if it does not include the Call of Duty franchise


CALL OF DUTY
June 2022: Activision says games have sold 425m copies, generating $30bn in revenue

Other franchises:
Tony Hawk 
Crash Bandicoot 
World of Warcraft 
Diablo 
Overwatch 
Candy Crush 
Farm Heroes


TEN MOST EXPENSIVE VIDEO GAME ACQUISITIONS
Acquirer		Target 			Year 	Deal value ($ billions)

Microsoft		Activision Blizzard	2023* 	68.7

Take Two Interactive	Zynga			2022	12.7

Tencent			Supercell		2016	8.6
	
Microsoft		ZeniMax Media		2020	8.1

Activision Blizzard	King			2015	5.9

ByteDance		Moonton			2021	4.0
	
Sony			Bungie			2022	3.6

Microsoft		Mojang			2014	2.5

EA			Glu Mobile		2021	2.4

Facebook (now Meta)	Oculus VR		2014	2.0


OPPOSITION
              
Regulators are wary of Microsoft’s leading position in cloud gaming, and Sony are concerned that control of Call of Duty could see game excluded from PlayStation consoles


*Pending regulatory approval


Sources: Bloomberg, BBC, Games Radar, Washington Post
Picture: Activision 
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