Activision Blizzard übernimmt King Digital Entertainment für knapp sechs Milliarden Dollar - und sorgt damit für einen Paukenschlag, denn wie Business Wire berichtet, wird der Publisher von Marken wie Call of Duty, World of Warcraft oder Skylanders damit zum neuen Marktführer im Bereich mobiler Spiele, dem derzeit am stärksten wachsenden Bereich in der interaktiven Unterhaltungsindustrie. Denn auch King Digital Entertainment ist als Unternehmen hinter erfolgreichen Marken wie der Candy Crush Saga ein Schwergewicht. Zusammen möchte man jetzt das größte Entertainment-Netzwerk der Welt bieten, in dem man monatlich eine halbe Milliarde aktive Nutzer in 196 Ländern verbucht.

King soll weiterhin als eigenstände Einheit innerhalb von Activision Blizzard bestehen bleiben und auch zukünftig von dem bisherigen Management-Team rund um Chief Executive Officer Riccardo Zacconi, Chief Creative Officer Sebastian Knutsson und Chief Operating Officer Stephane Kurgan geleitet werden.

Bobby Kotick, CEO von Activision Blizzard: "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. Riccardo, Sebastian, and Stephane are some of the best minds in the business, and we have long-admired King for consistently creating incredibly fun, deeply engaging free-to-play games that capture the imaginations of players across ages and demographics. Activision Blizzard will provide King with experience, support and investment to continue to build on their tremendous legacy and reach new potential. We share an unwavering commitment to attracting and developing the best talent in the business, and we are excited about what we will be able to accomplish together."

Riccardo Zacconi, Chief Executive Officer von King: “We are excited to be entering into this Acquisition with Activision Blizzard. Since 2003, we have built one of the largest player networks on mobile and Facebook, with 474 million monthly active users in the third quarter 2015, and our talented team has created some of the most successful mobile game franchises. 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. We are very much looking forward to working with Activision Blizzard. We have two teams that, together, will have an amazing footprint, innovative technology, and leadership across platforms, and unique, established IPs to delight one of the largest networks of players in the world."