GETTING ‘ACTIV’

M’soft eye on gaming mega-buy

Microsoft said Tuesday that it plans to buy the scandal-ridden developer behind “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” for $68.7 billion in cash, marking what would be the biggest gaming deal in history.

The deal to acquire ActivisionBlizzard would make Microsoft the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, just behind Chinese tech giant Tencent and PlayStation maker Sony, the companies said. It would eclipse the previous record for largest gaming deal, which was set just last week when Take-Two Interactive said it would buy mobile game maker Zynga for $11 billion.

Shares of Activision-Blizzard, which also created the “Candy Crush” and “Guitar Hero” franchises, closed up nearly 26 percent on Tuesday after the deal was announced, rising to $82.31 each. Microsoft shares, meanwhile, closed down more than 2.4 percent.

The Microsoft-Activision deal has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close in 2023, the firms said. If the deal doesn’t go through, Microsoft will pay Activision a “break-up fee” of $3 billion, according to Wedbush Securities managing director Dan Ives.

“This is the biggest tech M&A deal ever,” Ives told The Post. “Microsoft is not messing around.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the deal would “usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all.”

News of a scandal

The news comes as ActivisionBlizzard reels from a far-reaching sexual-misconduct scandal that saw California authorities accuse the company of fostering a culture of “constant sexual harassment” that even drove one employee to suicide. The suit and other reports of issues at the company led to widespread employee protests and walkouts in 2021.

Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick allegedly helped hide sexual misconduct and once threatened to have his own assistant killed, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The stream of revelations caused Activision-Blizzard’s share price to tank from more than $100 per share at some points in early 2021 to less than $60 in December. Microsoft is now paying $95 per share. The deal with Microsoft isn’t one Kotick would have planned on doing even a year ago, people close to him told The Post. Conversations about a possible deal between Microsoft and Activision began after news first broke of allegations against Kotick, according to people close to the matter.

“Bobby sold at this time because he has unbelievable pressure to step down,” a person with knowledge told The Post.

Kotick didn’t respond to a request for comment, nor did Activision. As for the tie-up, a person familiar with the matter said: “Of course, from a Microsoft standpoint it makes perfect sense: They need content to compete in the metaverse and Activision is a content machine — and Bobby needed to sell.”

Microsoft said Kotick will remain in place as CEO during the acquisition process, but people close to the matter claimed Kotick will likely head for the exits once the deal closes.