Activision Blizzard to Buy Candy Crush Publisher King Entertainment for $5.9 Billion

Posted on November 3, 2015

Activision-Blizzard has announced the acquisition of King Entertainment for $5.9 billion. Activision-Blizzard is best known for its popular World of Warcraft online game. King is best known for its mobile games, particular Candy Crush. Their other franchises include Farm Heroes, Pet Rescue and Bubble Watch.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick says in a statement, "The combined revenues and profits solidify our position as the largest, most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment. With a combined global network of more than half a billion monthly active users, our potential to reach audiences around the world on the device of their choosing enables us to deliver great games to even bigger audiences than ever before."

Activision is paying a 20% premium over King's recent share price. Business Insider reports that this is a big signal Activision plans to move agressively into mobile gaming. Yes, $6 billion is a very big signal. They also note that none of King's other games after Candy Crush has been as big of a hit. King's sound like it has Rovio's problem following Angry Birds.

Here is a video about the Candy Crush mobile game:

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