Microsoft Owns 13 Video Game Franchises Worth Over $1 Billion, Post Activision Blizzard Acquisition
After successfully acquiring Activision Blizzard King, Microsoft now owns 13 video game franchises worth more than $1 Billion.
Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, revealed during the company’s first quarter (Q1) Fiscal Year 2024 earnings call that the software giant owns 13 different video game franchises worth over $1 Billion after the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King.
While no specific names were given for the aforementioned franchises, they are likely include Minecraft, Halo, Gears of War, Forza, Age of Empires, Flight Simulator, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Call of Duty, Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo.
Nadella also stated that he’s looking forward to an “incredible first party lineup” to finish this year, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Forza Motorsport at the forefront. Additionally, it was mentioned that Xbox had better than expected subscription growth and higher 1st party earnings due to Starfield’s strong launch.
As for second quarter (Q2) forecasts, the company expects major revenue growth in the gaming segment mainly due to the Activision Blizzard King acquisition. More specifically, Microsoft forecasts overall gaming revenue to grow in the range of mid to high 40%, of which roughly 35% is due to the net impact from Activision acquisition. Meanwhile, the company expects Xbox content and services to grow in the range of mid to high 50%.
Previously, during an official Xbox podcast on the recent closing of the Activision Blizzard King acquisition, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer assured Call of Duty fans that the series will have parity across all platforms, whether it be Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo’s console, or PC.
Spencer stated that he wants Call of Duty players on PlayStation, and in the future on Nintendo consoles, to feel 100% part of the community. He said that he doesn’t want players of any platform to feel like there’s content they’ll miss out on, including content like character skins. He reaffirmed that this is not Microsoft’s goal post-acquisition. Rather, the goal is 100% parity across all platforms.
