Microsoft will buy the American video game giant, Activision Blizzard, for 68.7 billion dollars, Microsoft announced on Tuesday January 18. Activision’s stock soared more than 37% on Wall Street after the announcement, in electronic trading prior to the opening of trading, and was suspended.
“Following the transaction, Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony,” wrote the American company in a press release.
Activision Blizzard, publisher, among others, of call of duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, has been in turmoil for several months, rocked by a wave of accusations of harassment, sexism and discrimination within the company. At the end of October, Activision Blizzard announced, in an email sent to its employees and published Tuesday, October 19, the dismissal of twenty people and sanctions for twenty others.