Microsoft's ambition for Blizzard acquisition: Compete with Sony to develop Metaverse

In a Jan. 18 announcement, Microsoft said it would invest $68.7 billion in wholly-owned revenue from gaming giant Activision Blizzard.

Following this purchase, brands such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush Saga, Diablo and Overwatch will support the Xbox Game Pass "arsenal" and help Microsoft improve it in game consoles, production , distribution and the cloud. It will help. Microsoft will become the third largest game company in the world after Tencent and Sony.As a result, Microsoft will develop a "triangle" model in the gaming industry alongside Sony and Tencent.

the same time,The inclusion of Activision Blizzard will also improve the software giant's metaverse processes.When measuring the acquisition, Microsoft CEO Nadella was wrong to say that the deal would play a key role in improving the Microsoft Metaverse platform.

"Games are the most entertaining and exciting experience on any platform today, and will play a vital role in improving the Metaverse platform."

In a statement, Microsoft said Activision Blizzard and Microsoft Games will continue to operate on their own until the purchase is finalized. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will stay on after receiving notice, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer reports.

Mike Ybarra, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment, only joined Blizzard in 2019. Previously, I worked for Microsoft for 22 years. However, two years ago, the new owner was taken over by the former powerful owner Haoqi, and Barra had to return to the old owner.

Microsoft's request for $68.7 billion ($95 per share) was a 45% refund of Activision Blizzard's closing price on Friday before the deal was announced. However, over time, Activision Blizzard's share price remains high. Although the U.S. product market is expected to exit the bull market in 2021, Activision Blizzard products lost over 40% last year due to the turmoil and turmoil in its domestic operations last year. .

"Metaverse" Arms Race

In the long term, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard will not only strengthen competitive advantage in gaming, but will also impact the structure of the metaverse.

After Zuckerberg changed Facebook's name to Meta last year, "Metaverse" became a hot topic. One of the top performers at the start of the transition, big tech companies such as Microsoft, Blizzard, Nvidia and NetEase have not lagged behind and have become major players. Invest in R&D in Metaverse.

And Activision Blizzard is known to play with metaverse components that gamers spend hundreds of hours building communities in their game. through online co-op to complete tasks and collect items such as weapons and armor.

Today, Nadella and Spencer see a gaming community that has grown around games like Minecraft and Halo as a metaverse concept.Following the acquisition, Activision Blizzard has over 400 million monthly users and is expected to bolster Microsoft's similar competitive advantage.

David Wagner, equity analyst at Aptus Capital Advisors, said:

"It's important to consumers, and more importantly, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard really kicks off the Metaverse arms race."

Compete with Sony

Since debuting the first generation of Xbox in 2001, Microsoft has been relentless in gaming consoles and games for the past 20 years, including Horizon, Halo, and Age of Empires.

When Activision Blizzard succeeds, he thinks "wealthy" Microsoft will compete with Sony on game consoles and game content. Gamers are still eagerly awaiting the good of Diablo IV and the Overwatch sequel that will be released in the near future.

Currently, console, content and cloud are our core business of Microsoft enterprise game, and users of Microsoft enterprise cloud game, Game Pass, have exceeded 25 million. According to market analysis firm Newzoo, after the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft's global market share is expected to increase from 6.5% to 10.7%.