WhenActivision Blizzardgot bought by Microsoft on January 18 this year, it took the industry by surprise. The company’s reputation was in freefall, as its key members were accused of sexual harassment and several major conglomerates were distancing themselves from it, denouncing the toxic work culture that took root for the better part of the past two decades. Some video game enthusiasts were lamenting this fall of grace, others were reevaluating the company’s past accomplishments under a new light, but whenMicrosoft announced the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it transformed the narrative from angry condemnation to a plea of cleaning house.
Microsoft has been relentless in its quest to buy up video game companies, as the acquisition of Activision Blizzard came on the heel ofMicrosoft’s acquisition of Zenimax, which was finalized and approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on June 20, 2025. There is no better way to describe the current climate in the video game industry as that of an arms race, with Sony and Microsoft fighting for primacy.
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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick congratulated employees on the success of recent titles, and stated that the Microsoft merger was expected to finalize by June 2023. The company released its financial earnings for the third quarter of 2022, and though Activision Blizzard has experienced a significant decline in Monthly Active Users compared to last year, both Activision and Blizzard saw growth when compared to the second quarter of 2022.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2became the fastest selling gameof the iconic franchise, whileOverwatch 2saw 35 million players log in during its first month.
An important thing to look out for in the coming months, is that Blizzard Entertainment has several major releases lined up before the Microsoft merger takes place –World of Warcraft: DragonflightandDiablo 4in particular. WithWorld of Warcraft’s ninth expansion on pace to meet its launch without any lingering issues, it suggests a strong finish to 2022 forActivision Blizzard.
Though it remains to be seen how Activision Blizzard will change when it gets incorporated into Microsoft, the outlook seems overwhelmingly positive. With Obsidian Entertainment being allowed to work onAvowedunder a budget that thePillars of Eternitygames could only dream of, Microsoft has certainly proven that it’s willing to invest in projects that carry a moderate amount of risk. Perhaps the best example of how the merger might benefit Blizzard fans is that the possibility of aStarCraftsequel increases tenfold under Microsoft. However, the longterm future for Activision Blizzard will only become more apparent once the merger concludes, and Microsoft takes the video game giant under its wing.
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