Microsoft Announces Plan to Buy Activision Blizzard

Microsoft Announces Plan to Buy Activision Blizzard

Today it was announced that Microsoft plans to acquire Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) for $68.7 billion. This is the largest video game deal ever and it will likely take some time to go through. Here are our initial thoughts. • Activision Blizzard was looking in a weak position with internal turmoil. The thinking was the company would need to be split up with Activision, Blizzard, King as three separate parts. It was hard to imagine any company willing to swallow the whole pill. .....
Activision Blizzard Removes Games from GeForce Now

Activision Blizzard Removes Games from GeForce Now

Last week Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) released its annual results for 2019.  Revenue was down over 2018, but the stock had a nice increase.  This week ATVI announced it would remove its games from the newly launched GeForce Now streaming service.  So, what is up with Activision? In 2019, Activision revenue was $6.5 billion versus $7.0 billion for 2018.  Net income in 2019 was $1.5 billion versus $1.8 billion the previous year.  However, the week after th.....
Activision Blizzard Sees Success with World of Warcraft Classic Sales

Activision Blizzard Sees Success with World of Warcraft Classic Sales

Large video game publishers have significant value in their historic franchises.  Unfortunately, they have often struggled to take full advantage of those evergreen classics.  Activision Blizzard was no exception.  However, the recent release of World of Warcraft Classic shows that they may be coming around. World of Warcraft Classic released on August 26th.  The main attraction of this product is that it is a version of the game from when it first launched 15 years ago .....

Losing Bungie Raises Big Concerns about the Destiny of Activision

In the past few months, a big topic for DFC Intelligence analysts has been investor concern over the fate of big game publishers Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard.  This issue really came to a head with the announcement that Bungie, developer of the Destiny franchise, was making a break from its publisher Activision.  What exactly does this announcement say about the future of a company like Activision Blizzard?  To be cute, in other words, what is the destiny of Activision? D.....
Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard Focus on Games As A Service

Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard Focus on Games As A Service

The new DFC report, The Business of Video Games, looks at the gap between games as a service and traditional pay-to-play games.  As we discussed last week, these are two very different segments of the industry.  This week we are looking at how two traditional pay-to-play game companies, Electronic Arts and.....

Activision Blizzard Spends Big On King

NOV. 3, 2015 • Activision Blizzard is spending $5.9 billion ($18 per share) to acquire all outstanding shares of Dublin, Ireland-based Candy Crush Saga creator King Digital Entertainment. Of the total, $3.6 billion is cash that Activision Blizzard has parked outside the United States. The remainder is made up by a loan fronted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs Bank. The a.....

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