Following Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it seemed that the company was looking to sell itself to other companies, namely Facebook.
Also known by its new name of Meta Platforms Inc., unnamed sources told Bloomberg that CEO Bobby Kotick and the board have reached a deal with Mark Zuckerberg's company.
Apparently, Activision wasn't entirely on board with the Microsoft acquisition, but it was the only company to express serious interest. Apart from Meta, Activision approached another company, but its name was not given.
In an interview with GamesBeat, Kotick may have hinted that EA might have bought Activision, but it wasn't big enough.
"When you compare us to, you know, 2 trillion dollar companies and 3 trillion dollar companies and trillion dollar companies and 500 billion dollar companies, you realize that maybe we were a big video game company. But now when you look at who the competitors are, it's a different world now than ever before,” says Kotick.
"I think even if we had consolidated within EA, it wouldn't have given us what we'll need going forward. So, I needed a great partner to make it work."
Oh yes, the scandals
In that same interview, Kotick denied that Activision's sale to Microsoft had anything to do with the ongoing scandals surrounding the company. He also claimed that the drop in Activision's stock was mainly due to the delay of Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4.
Activision was sued for alleged sexual harassment, abuse and discrimination last summer. Kotick himself has since been implicated in a Wall Street Journal report, not only for knowing about and covering up multiple incidents, but also for threatening to kill his assistant.
Kotick received numerous requests from Activision employees and the general public to resign or be fired. It is believed he will step down once the Microsoft acquisition is complete, but he is likely to still receive a substantial upfront payment.
It will also mean that Microsoft will have to deal with the fallout from the scandals, as well as the ongoing strike at Call of Duty: Warzone studio Raven Software. Some have expressed hope that with Microsoft's new leadership, things like toxic working conditions will improve, but others remain skeptical.