Time.news – A bit like in Tetris, Microsoft was looking for the right piece. He thinks he found it with Activision Blizzard, spending $ 68.7 billion. It is not just one piece among many but the joint that, in one fell swoop, could enhance the strengths (the cloud), cancel the weak ones (mobile game) and open up to the potential of the metaverse.
Video games are serious business
Microsoft is certainly not fasting video games: the launch of the first Xbox (just to name the best known product) dates back to 2001. But space and attention to the sector have grown over time, as evidenced by the dollars paid out for acquisitions. Activision Blizzard is – by far – the most expensive operation ever. Not only. Among the ten most substantial, two others concern video games: in 2020, the group got its hands on ZeniMax Media for 8.1 billion dollars and in 2014 on Mojang, for 2.5 billion. Microsoft thus finds itself at home with titles such as Fallout, Doom, Minecraft, Call of Duty, Halo.
In fiscal year 2021, gaming revenue grew by 33%, exceeded 15 billion dollars and represents 9% of the group’s proceeds. In the last annual report, the company was already tracing the path that Activision Blizzard confirms: Microsoft said it was looking for “future opportunities” in the sector, with an “end-to-end” approach (ie from development to distribution). But why spend so much?
Microsoft and clouds
According to Newzoo’s data, Microsoft’s market share would rise from 6.5 to 10.7%, making the company the third in the industry after Tencent and Sony. The effect was seen on the stock market: if the shares of the American company did not have any jolts, those of the Japanese competitor fell by 12%.
The acquisition won’t just mean more titles for the Xbox – it’s nourishment for the cloud environment. Microsoft, it is now clear, imagines video games disconnected from a single device to be accessible anytime and anywhere. It’s a vision that combines with a big advantage over its competitors: Microsoft, in addition to having the titles and a console, is also strong on the cloud. In fact, he underlined how the acquisitions support the growth of Game Pass: the subscription and cloud service, which has reached 25 million subscribers, should welcome Activision Blizzard games and draw from a new pool of 400 million active players. every month in 190 countries. The titles that Microsoft brings home, therefore, “will accelerate plans for cloud gaming.” That is, towards a gaming experience that is increasingly similar to that of Netflix.
The game is mobile
So play always and play everywhere. And here comes the second joint: in addition to growing where it is already strong, Microsoft fills a historical gap: gaming on mobile devices, which is worth about half of the global turnover. The company estimates that 95% of the 3 billion gamers in the world (destined to become 4.5 billion in 2030) use it from mobile. “It is an area – admitted the ceo of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer – where we have not had a massive presence”. Until now: Activision Blizzard is headed by King, the developer of titles like Farm Heroes and Candy Crush.
From metagame to metalwork
Group CEO Satya Nadella added another element: “The game will play a key role in the development of the metaverse.” Everyone in the big world of Zuckerberg? Not really. Microsoft has a much broader idea. “There shouldn’t be and there won’t be a single centralized metaverse,” explained Nadella. Instead, “many platforms” will be supported, creating “a solid ecosystem of content, commerce and applications”, accessible “on any device”.
Nadella’s metaverse therefore appears a galaxy of virtual worlds, capable of adapting not only to viewers but also to simpler and less immersive exploration methods. And what have video games always done if not imagining virtual worlds? Combined with Microsoft infrastructure, companies like Activision Blizzard have the technology assets and expertise to meet this challenge. Not just for entertainment: virtual reality and game mechanisms are applicable everywhere, even in Microsoft’s other major area of interest, the professional one: meetings on Teams, Office solutions, Linkedin networks. From metagame to metalwork.