Microsoft expands gaming and Xbox further, buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion

Microsoft's agreement with the video game giant comes as Activision struggles with a series of complaints about its toxic work culture.

Microsoft made the biggest purchase on Tuesday, announcing a deal to secure the controversial video game Activision Blizzard, a total of $ 68.7 billion. The move will make Microsoft the largest video game maker in the world while giving it control over some of the most popular games ever made, including the Battle of Duty series and the fantasy behemoth World of Warcraft.

"In partnership with Activision Blizzard, we have an amazing opportunity to invest and innovate to build better content, community and a cloud of players," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a telephone conference with investors.

Both companies have entered into an agreement, which must be closed sometime in the next 18 months, as an opportunity to grow their franchises in the highly competitive and lucrative video game industry. "This is not about the short-term consequences," Microsoft head of sports Phil Spencer said in a statement. "We've seen the Activision Blizzard product path and we're incredibly excited about what the teams are creating and the company's pipeline for many years to come."

With Activision Blizzard, Microsoft hopes to position itself as one of the next major entertainment companies, despite Activision's reputation for a toxic work environment. Although Microsoft has long been associated with its Windows production software and Office, the company has continued to increase its efforts to lead the video game industry with its Xbox product. It also believes that Activision represents an important investment in its gaming future.

Microsoft has suspended its pending acquisition of Activision, as well as previous acquisitions such as Fallout- and Doom-maker Bethesda, as part of its efforts to create a company like Netflix, which invests heavily in content that guarantees people to pay for subscriptions. "As our platform becomes more attractive, the mobile wheel of content creators and actors is growing rapidly as the creative range on our platform continues to grow," Spencer said.

The company expects to use Activision games in a variety of ways. Microsoft sees games such as the Activision Candy Crush Saga puzzle as a way to help it grow into mobile games. In the meantime, it can use themes such as the hottest action adventure games Diablo and Call of Duty as well as the Overwatch dream series to boost its $ 15 monthly Game Pass Ultimate subscription service and cloud gaming efforts.

While the agreement offers Microsoft an important opportunity, it comes at a time when the Activision review is full of scandals, allegations of discrimination against its female employees and the promotion of "boy" culture in the workplace. Allegations are mounting this summer when the California Department of Corrections and Housing sued the company for incidents involving alleged discrimination and harassment. In September, US Equal Employment Opportunity was accused of violating workers' civil rights, including sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination and retaliation. Activision Blizzard quickly settled with the EEOC for $ 18 million.

During the investigation and labor activists, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is accused of ignoring and perpetuating the crisis, which led to his resignation.

Microsoft said it plans to keep Kotick in charge of Activision Blizzard as the deal progresses. Once completed, Microsoft said Activision Blizzard would report to Spencer, a company that has named him as a successful cultural change agent. The Wall Street Journal reported later Tuesday that Kotick plans to leave the company following the acquisition of Microsoft.

"As the CEO of Microsoft, the culture of our organization is number one for me," said Nadella, listening to her efforts to soften her company's historical background. "We must continue to improve the living experience of our employees and create an environment that allows us to constantly enhance the daily development of our culture. This is a difficult task. It requires consistency, dedication and leadership that not only speaks but walks."

Microsoft shares on Wall Street, which has already informed the company more than 32 times that Activision's purchase price, has declined slightly following the news to $ 302.65, down more than 2% of the day. The price of Microsoft shares has increased by almost 40% over the past year.

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