One of the world's largest game publishers now owns one of the world's largest mobile game publishers.
Activision Blizzard has announced that it will be purchasing King Digital Entertainment, the studio behind games like the Candy Crush Saga and Farm Heroes Saga games, for a whopping $5.9 billion. This price equates to a massive $18 per share, which is 20 percent more than King Digital's closing price on Oct. 20.
"The combined revenues and profits solidify our position as the largest, most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, in a statement. "With a combined global network of more than half a billion monthly active users, our potential to reach audiences around the world on the device of their choosing enables us to deliver great games to even bigger audiences than ever before."
The purchase will drastically diversify Activision's portfolio, with the company having already been making a push in the mobile world. Owning King Digital will give the company control over some of the most downloaded mobile games in the world, with the acquisition coming at a time when mobile gaming is becoming increasingly popular.
Activision will also now be placed well ahead of competitors like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts, especially when it comes to mobile games. The deal will likely shake up the gaming landscape in a big way, with both Activision and King Digital placing in the top 10 biggest gaming companies in terms of revenue, according to analysis firm Newzoo. Activision ranked fifth on the list and King Digital ranked tenth.
Activision also owns companies like Blizzard Entertainment, which was owned by Vivendi. The resulting company was named Activision Blizzard, which is the holding company for both Activision and Blizzard. Due to this acquisition, Activision now owns games like World of Warcraft, which is the world's largest subscription-based multiplayer game.
Via: VentureBeat
