What you need to know
- Microsoft has announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard in an absolutely massive gaming deal.
- The deal will add a ton of new studios and even more legendary gaming franchises to the growing Xbox brand.
- However, it seems the Activision Blizzard deal may also contribute to Microsoft's vision of the "metaverse" concept.
- The Activision Blizzard acquisition will "accelerate the growth in Microsoft's gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse."
On Tuesday, Microsoft announced it's acquiring Activision Blizzard, a $70 billion gaming deal that will solidify Microsoft's place as a gaming powerhouse and add a plethora of studios, games, and franchises to the growing Xbox brand. Acquiring Activision Blizzard doesn't just affect gaming, however, as Microsoft is also considering how the deal can help execute its vision of the emerging "metaverse" concept.
The metaverse is a concept that has increasingly gained traction over the last few months as an evolution to how people are productive, and intends to meld the physical world with the digital world in a variety of ways. Microsoft has its own vision for what this means, and Tuesday's acquisition announcement partially ties into this. According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, "Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms."
Activision Blizzard is a huge player in the gaming industry, and possesses talent and experience in a wide variety of markets. While it's too early to tell exactly how Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard will aid in furthering the development of the metaverse, it's clear the deal has major ramifications for Microsoft and the gaming industry as a whole.
"We're investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all," Nadella said of the announcement. Many companies are touting the benefits of the metaverse and what it could mean, but not everyone is as enthusiastic. Our own Jez Corden had some thoughts on the metaverse, and why the hype isn't deserved.
In case you missed it, the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal will also see many new additions to Xbox Game Pass, possibly greatly expanding our list of best Xbox Game Pass games in the process.
