"The Biggest Takeaways of the Microsoft/Activision Deal"
More than a week ago, the gaming industry was shaken by the massive news of Microsoft entering an agreement to acquire beleaguered publisher Activision/Blizzard ( who for those who've been in the know, has been embroiled in a massive lawsuit over sexual harrassment and other horrid things happening within the company and at a top level ) in an all cash transaction of $68.7 billion dollars. Considering Activision Blizzard owns some of gaming IP's most lucrative franchises (mainly above all else, the "Call of Duty" franchise whose two most recent entries "Black Ops Cold War" and "Vanguard" where the top 2 best selling games of 2021), Microsoft buying this kind of publisher is the kind of thing that absolutely, definitively changes the gaming landscape forever. It absolutely removes a big third party vertical from the equation (in an even bigger way than when Microsoft acquired Zenimax and took with them Bethesda and all the studios they owned). When