After confirming Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for 68.7 billion, the head of Xbox and Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, sent out a letter to employees revealing the company’s immediate plans.
Phil said that the current head of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, will remain in his post until the end of the year to “ensure a smooth and seamless integration,” The Verge reports. At the same time, Kotick will report directly to Spencer, who will be inspecting new properties in the coming weeks. You shouldn’t wait for any specifics until November 8, when the general meeting on the strategy of the mega-company created today will take place.
Full text of Phil Spencer’s letter:
Today is a good day for games. We have completed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard and congratulate Activision Blizzard and its Microsoft Gaming business.
Activision, Blizzard and King are the publishers of some of the most popular and beloved franchises in gaming history, from Pitfall to Call of Duty, Warcraft to Overwatch, Candy Crush Saga to Farm Heroes Super Saga. By combining Xbox with the craftsmanship, expertise and amazing gaming heritage of Activision Blizzard, we can bring the joy of gaming to even more people around the world.
We are committed to learning from their work, sharing ideas and best practices, and providing our new colleagues with the opportunity to convey their vision to the widest possible audience. And today we officially begin working to bring more innovative games to more players than ever before, and on new platforms, from mobile to cloud streaming. We’re also starting work on making the library of fan-loved Activision, Blizzard and King’s games available on Game Pass and other platforms—we’ll have plenty more to share in the coming months.
We are thrilled to have the people of Activision Blizzard as our colleagues, collaborators and teammates. Bobby Kotick has agreed to remain in his role until the end of 2023, reporting directly to me, to ensure a smooth and seamless integration. We look forward to working together as a team and sharing news about our new organizational structure in the coming months.
I would like to extend a special and heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this acquisition possible. We could not have achieved this without your dedication.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be visiting the Activision, Blizzard and King offices with members of our gaming leadership team. We’ll have the opportunity to welcome our new colleagues at the next Xbox Virtual Meeting, and we’ll be sharing this and more with the Microsoft community at our Company Strategy session on November 8th.
Together we can open up a world of possibilities for players and creators.
Phil.
