Microsoft buys PC game developer Call of Duty for more than 60 billion euros

Microsoft is willing to pay $95 per share of the publicly traded company. It’s a premium of more than 45 percent over Activision Blizzard’s closing price on Monday. “This acquisition will accelerate the growth of Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console, and cloud,” the company said.

Activision Blizzard’s current CEO, Bobby Kotik, will remain in the position. However, it has not gone unnoticed since allegations of sexual harassment at his company surfaced.

Once the deal is completed, Microsoft says it will become the world’s third largest gaming company, after China’s Tencent and Japan’s Sony. The American group has been active in the gaming sector for a long time, especially with the Xbox game console and the successful “Halo” series, and currently owns more than two dozen game developers through the publisher Xbox Game Studios.

With the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is expanding its portfolio with several well-known game series. It can therefore retain the values ​​set exclusively for the Xbox, at the expense of its competitors Sony with PlayStation and Nintendo with its Switch, among others.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is the second billion-dollar deal to the gaming industry in as many weeks. Last week, PC game publisher Take-Two Interactive announced that it plans to acquire mobile game developer Zynga for about $11 billion.