Call of Duty publisher Activision
Blizzard has bought King Digital Entertainment, the creator of mobile smash hit
Candy Crush Saga, in a deal worth $5.9 Billion. King Digital Entertainment had
built one of the largest networks of players on Facebook and on mobile devices
noting that King’s games had 474 Million active users in the third quarter of
2015.
Activision already owns one of the
biggest gaming franchises in Call of Duty, in addition to Destiny and huge
properties such as World of WarCraft and StarCraft as a result of its merger
with Blizzard in 2008. The company’s gaming portfolio grows even bigger with
the addition of the biggest name in social gaming. Consumer spending on Candy
Crush fell 13 percent year over year in the second quarter of this year.
Activision Blizzard games are
played on consoles such as Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation. King floated on
the New York Stock Exchange in March last year with a valuation of almost $8
Billion making it the most valuable British business of the tech craze. Candy
Crush became wildly popular racking up a billion plays a day on smartphones for
the company, based in London West End.
This acquisition clearly
demonstrates a new commitment to mobile for Activision as well as the will to
diversify their IP Portfolio to a more global female audience. Activision has
taken in the past a more reserved approach to mobile, releasing only a handful
of titles, like Hearthstone and mainly using mobile apps as side experiences to
their PC and console games. In the meantime, global competitors such as EA or
Tencent have embraced this new sector.
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