Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Activision Blizzard Completes Acquisition Of Mobile Giant King
Activision Blizzard has announced this morning that it has cleared a number of regulatory hurdles to complete its acquisition of Candy Crush maker King. The purchase leaves the company behind Call of Duty and Starcraft as the self-professed largest game network in the world with more than 500 million users.
The acquisition was announced in November, with the price tag set at $5.9 billion. The result of the deal sees Activision Blizzard sales projected to jump from $1.575 billion in 2015 to $6.25 billion in 2016.
Operating income came in at $438 million for the 2015 fiscal year. That is likely to be more than $2 billion in 2016.
The King purchase was one of three big moves Activision made in recent months. The company also announced it has opened a movie and television division with a Skylander cartoon and Call of Duty films in the works. Additionally, Activision Blizzard purchased Major League Gaming at the start of 2016 to make a push into eSports.
Our Take
Activision’s 2015 was about diversification and a “buy-not-build” mentality that will accelerate the company’s growth in mobile and competitive gaming. How this all shakes out depends on how the company continues to leverage its strong brands, like Call of Duty, Starcraft II, and Heroes of the Storm while cultivating its new user base in the mobile and social arena.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
