Activision Blizzard announced yesterday evening that its huge 5.9 billion dollar acquisition of King, best known for the success of Candy Crush Saga, has now been finalised. The multi-billion deal was brokered and announced last November, but could only be completed after the approval from King's shareholders, the Irish High Court and antitrust authorities.
"We now reach over 500 million users across almost every country, making us the largest game network in the world. We see great opportunities to create new ways for audiences to experience their favorite franchises, from Candy Crush to World of Warcraft to Call of Duty and more, across mobile devices, consoles and personal computers", said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard, in the press release.
King will continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Riccardo Zacconi and operate as an independent unit of Activision Blizzard, much like Blizzard, but also very different from Blizzard surely.