Gameitall 
Activision has announced late last night that it will be acquiring King Digital Entertainment, the company who developed the Facebook and Mobile titles Candy Crush Saga and Bubble Witch Saga. A deal was made to the tune of 5.6 Billion dollars and will make Activision Blizzard “one of the largest global entertainment networks with over half a billion combined monthly active users in 196 countries,” according to a release statement.
“The combined revenues and profits solidify our position as the largest, most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, in a release. “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.”
The acquisition is still subject to approval from King Shareholders and the Irish Government however it is expected to be complete by next spring. King Digital Entertainment has had three of the top ten-grossing games on the iTunes and Google Play app stores, generating $2.1 billion in adjusted revenue, had 533 million monthly active users in 2014, and their games were played more than 1.5 billion times per day.
“Combining one of the largest mobile gaming communities with Activision Blizzard’s leading franchises creates potential opportunities to grow and cross-promote content to a diverse audience, while providing players more opportunities to engage with its content,” the company said in a release.
King will currently continue to operate under CEO Riccardo Zacconi, chief creative offer Sebastian Knutsson and chief operating officer Stephane Kurgan.
