GamerEscape

Today’s big gaming news comes from yet another Microsoft acquisition.

This time, the company has set their sights on Activision Blizzard. The publisher of games such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty is being purchased for $68.7 billion.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said today in a post that Activision Blizzard will operate independently until the transaction is made and once it has gone through, Activision Blizzard will report to him. Currently, the acquisition is set to be finalized during Microsoft’s 2023 fiscal year which ends in June, 2023.

The blog post from Spencer makes no mention of the current lawsuit from the state of California over sexism and harassment, nor the SEC investigation over workplace practices. However, Spencer does make a mention regarding studio culture.

As a company, Microsoft is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming, among both employees and players. We deeply value individual studio cultures. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment. We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.

Phil Spencer

Of course, one of the biggest questions to come out of today’s news is what will happen with Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. As of yet, there has been no official confirmation one way or the other on if Kotick will remain with the company once the deal is done, though the Wall Street Journal is currently reporting that he is expected to depart following the deal.

Image courtesy of Microsoft.