Disney Urged to Purchase Activision Blizzard β Will It Happen?
Disney Urged to Purchase Activision Blizzard

Weβve seen a huge drop in share prices for Activision Blizzard in the past year, as high as 40% even. While this isnβt exactly good for the company, it does seem to present other businesses with a good opportunity to acquire the company. One huge company that could easily do this is Walt Disney Co.
Nick Licouris of the investment firm Gerber KawasakiΒ reportedly sees benefits between Activisionβs Esport business and Disneyβs TV networks. Disney has plenty of character properties that could be leveraged further. Disneyβs checkered past in the world of video games may put them off, however.Β Disney Infinity,Β for instance, was an ambitious attempt to enter the world of video games but this project ended inΒ costly failure.
And yet, a deal with Activision Blizzard would be potentially lucrative. The industry continues to grow, and Activision Blizzard may have a something up their sleeves with the upcoming release ofΒ World of Warcraft Classic.Β Furthermore, Disney already televisesΒ OverwatchΒ League through ESPN3, so we know they already have some interest and knowledge of Activision Blizzardβs properties.
Despite Activision Blizzardβs recent woes in the stock market, the deal would not come cheap. The company is still valued at USD $34.85 billion dollars. For comparison: Disney acquired Marvel Studios in 2009 for only USD $4 billion.
For now, for Disney to purchase Activision Blizzard, itβs going to be a huge movement and itβs like an investorβs dream rather than an actual business strategy. Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney Co., remarked that βWeβve just decided that the best place for us to be in that space (video games) is licensing and not publishing.β Looks like they are still relatively content to let EA and other publishers work with their properties.
Source: Bloomberg
Pokdepinion: It would be another huge acquisition by the company behind the Mickey Mouse Funhouse if this happens for real. Probably the biggest the industry has seen even.
