How Microsoft’s US$69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard could affect Vancouver’s gaming sector

Microsoft has completed its acquisition of video game-maker Activision Blizzard for US$69 billion, closing one of the most expensive tech acquisitions in history that could have repercussions across the video game industry.

Taking over the studios behind blockbuster games like Call of Duty, Diablo and Overwatch will be a boost for Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console, which ranks third in sales behind PlayStation and Nintendo. The software giant also has bigger ambitions to fold Activision titles into its multi-game subscription service that works something like a Netflix for video games.

Whether that will be good or bad for Vancouver studios that make products for either Microsoft or Activision remains to be seen. Demonware, a subsidiary of Activision, is headquartered in Ireland but has a studio in Vancouver. It doesn’t make games but provides underlying technology like matchmaking used in multiplayer online games like Call of Duty. Treyarch Corp. has a Vancouver studio that works on Activision’s Call of Duty.

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