Activision Blizzard may have been acquired by EA
We often think of publishers like Ubisoft, EA and Activision Blizzard like these monolithic companies with huge wealth and resources, but compared to companies like Microsoft, Google or Meta, they’re all small potatoes. Only one of the big players like Microsoft is big enough to buy Activision, although there is clearly at least some thought given to a more sketchy merger with EA.
In an interview with GameActivision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick hinted that EA was considered a potential partner ahead of Microsoft’s announcement yesterday, but was ultimately too small to buy the Call of Duty maker.
“You would think, oh, we are a big company and have these great resources,” says Kotick. “But when you compare us to, you know, $2 trillion and $3 trillion companies and trillion dollar companies and $500 billion companies, you realize, We might have been a big video game company, but now, when you look at who the competition is, it’s a different world today than ever before.
“But I think even if we did merge in EA, that wouldn’t give us what we’re going to need in the future. And so you need to have a big partner to be able to do that. let it work.”
Just to compare relative sizes, EA has a market capitalization of around $40 billion, while Activision Blizzard is around $64 billion. Microsoft, on the other hand, is valued at $2.3 trillion.
In the same interview, Kotick denied that the merger was to escape the scandals that have rocked Activision Blizzard since last summer. To replace, it’s about gaining access to Microsoft technology.
“We need them in areas like AI and machine learning, data analytics, or in cybersecurity and purpose-built clouds and we don’t have them,” he said.
Activision Blizzard has been mired in controversy since California DFEH has filed a lawsuit against the company because of its toxic work culture. Revelation from the Wall Street Journal directly related to Kotick for ignoring reports of abuse and harassment, allegedly contributing to them by threatening to kill a female employee.
In an attempt to prevent headlines from further damaging Activision Blizzard’s stock price, Kotick even accused Proposal to buy a game publication to start running more positive stories. Kotick is said to be resigning after the Microsoft acquisition removed regulatory barriers.
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https://www.thegamer.com/activision-blizzard-ea-merger-not-big-enough/ Activision Blizzard may have been acquired by EA