Imagine a world where Microsoft owned Activision-Blizzard. And no, it’s not the plot of a new Terminator movie, it’s an actual thing that could actually happen, according to industry sources.
A report over on Reuters claims that Activision-Blizzard holder Vivendi is shopping out their 60% controlling stake in the publisher to potential buyers, including Microsoft, Time Warner, and Chinese investor Tencent Holdings.
“It’s nothing official yet, but they’ve asked a bank to go and talk to possible buyers for Activision,” Reuters’ anonymous source said.
On the possibility of Microsoft buying the company, the source said that, “They probably don’t want to distract themselves too much, but they are the ones who, if they want to stay in games, would think about owning some of these big franchises, not just providing the consoles.”
The sale could make as much as $10 billion for Vivendi, who are apparently in some financial trouble after the “badly-timed” acquisition of French mobile operator SFR earlier this year.
Microsoft declined comment, but maybe that’s because they’re too busy brainstorming ideas for Call of Halo: Guitars of War to answer the phone.
Source: Reuters
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I can just imagine Tencent buying it.
The next CoD will consist of bot-players standing around and spamming ads for in-game currency xD