Activision Blizzard, publisher of video games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Destiny, has purchased Candy Crush Saga creator King Digital for $5.9 billion. Activision Blizzard has built a successful portfolio of video games on consoles and PCs, but has struggled to find the same success in the mobile space. King CEO Riccardo Zacconi notes the Candy Crush maker had 474 million monthly active mobile and Facebook users in the third quarter of 2015.

candy-crush-saga

We believe that the Acquisition will position us very well for the next phase of our company’s evolution and will bring clear benefits to our players and employees. We will combine our expertise in mobile and free-to-play with Activision Blizzard’s world-class brands and proven track record of building and sustaining the most successful franchises, to bring the best games in the world to millions of players worldwide.

Activision Blizzard says the acquisition will make the company the global leader in mobile gaming while also giving the company over half a billion active monthly users in 196 countries. In the past 12 months ending September 2015, Activision Blizzard reported revenues of $4.7 billion while King reported revenues of $2.1 billion. While quarterly spending in King's signature game, Candy Crush Saga, has declined in the past 18 months, players still spent $1.3 billion on in-app purchases in 2014 alone.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Candy Crush Saga represented 45 percent of King Digital's quarterly revenue. King has been working to diversify its gaming portfolio to rely less on Candy Crush and remain profitable. Like Infinity Blade and Angry Birds before it, Candy Crush Saga is one of the few games to become a smash-hit cult-like success in the App Store.

Top Rated Comments

noslenam Avatar
125 months ago
How many people actually pay for these games? I myself download a free game and never pay a dime. I'll play it for a little bit until my free play is done for the day and I'm done. I get my fix and that's it. I can't believe people pay to play these games. I'd be more likely to play it longer if it was a flat fee upfront like to old days. 5.9 billion Wow! Not getting a dime from me to help that one.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
levitynyc Avatar
125 months ago
This won't end well for them.

Remember when Zynga bought OMGPop? (Draw Something)

That didn't pan out as expected.

Also, its nice to see them spend 6 billion dollars and then turn around to nickel and dime Destiny players.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
garirry Avatar
125 months ago
If the purchase means death to the franchise, then praise god and be happy forever.

If the purchase means milking the franchise for more money, then **** my life.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fortimir Avatar
125 months ago
How many people actually pay for these games?
LOL. You serious? The reason so many games offer in-app purchases and micro/transactions is precisely because so many people do pay for them. Candy Crush is the crown jewel of this model.

You and I don't, but we are in a small percentage of people who know how many GB of RAM our iPhones actually have.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fullauto Avatar
125 months ago
Tasty..
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kissmo Avatar
125 months ago
Diablo 3 : Reaper of Candy coming soon
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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