Activision acquires Candy Crush developer King Digital for $5.9 billion
Activision has completed its $5.9 billion acquisition of King Digital Network, the maker of Candy Crush Saga. Activision Blizzard’s best known titles include World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. The combined company will have more than 500 million users. For 2016, Activision Blizzard is projecting combined revenues of $6.25 billion and operating income of $2 billion.
“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, CEO of Activision Blizzard, in a statement. “On behalf of Activision Blizzard, we are delighted to welcome Riccardo, Sebastian, Stephane and all of King’s talented employees to our family.”
King Digital will continue to be led by Riccardo Zacconi, its CEO. “We are thrilled to now be a part of Activision Blizzard and can’t wait to start working together,” he said in a statement. “I want to thank everyone at King for all of their hard work since we founded the company 13 years ago. We are excited about the future as we continue developing more exciting games and explore new ways to serve our players and build on the greatest franchises in interactive entertainment.”
King Digital will continue to be led by Zacconi, Knutsson, and Kurgan and operate as an independent unit of Activision Blizzard.
