Why Microsoft is splashing $69bn on video games – The Economist

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Jan Twenty second 2022

EVEN FOR Microsoft, which boasts a market worth of $2.3trn, $69bn Is a few large money. On January 18th the agency said It’d pay that sum—in money—for Activision Blizzard, a video-recreation developer. It is by far The Most very important acquisition Inside the video-recreation enterprise’s historic previous, and The Most very important ever by Microsoft, Greater than twice The measurement of its buy in 2016 of LinkedIn, a social internetwork (see chart). The transfer, which caught enterprise-watchers Abruptly and propelled Activision Blizzard’s share worth up by 25%, recurrents An limitless guess on The biggest method forward for nice. However not, mightbe, a loopy one.

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Gaming was An monumental, quick-rising enterprise even earlier than the pandemic. Lockdpersonals bolstered its attraction—to hardened recreationrs with extra time on their palms and bored neophytes alike. Newzoo, an evaluation agency, reckons incomes grew by 23% in 2020, To solely about $180bn. That progress has attracted The eye of completely different tech titans, collectively with Apple, Netflix and Amazon, all of whom have dipped their toes into the market In current occasions.

Microsoft has been Inside the enterprise for 20 yrs. It earns $15bn a yr from video recreations, principally As a Outcome of of its Xbox console. It has made …….

Source: https://www.economist.com/business/why-microsoft-is-splashing-69bn-on-video-games/21807242