Sources: Activision Blizzard tried to find other buyers, including Meta, while weighing a potential Microsoft takeover after the WSJ's exposé in November

Bloomberg 2022-01-19

Context & Ripple Effects

The November WSJ exposé put Bobby Kotick's position under threat, and the aftermath now reads as a scramble: per the related coverage, Kotick floated acquiring trade publications like Kotaku and PC Gamer as a counter-narrative, while Activision Blizzard shopped itself to other buyers including Meta. Phil Spencer opened Microsoft's acquisition talks just three days after the exposé ran, per an SEC filing that also disclosed Kotick's $15M severance if fired without cause.

The Meta detail matters because it shows the Microsoft deal was not a foregone conclusion — Activision Blizzard ran a real market check before landing on the $69B agreement that would later require selling UK cloud gaming rights to appease regulators. A rival bidder in the room changes how both the price and Kotick's retention were negotiated.

First-order effects

Meta's decision not to bid left Microsoft as the sole credible acquirer, removing the competitive tension that could have pushed Activision Blizzard's sale price above $69B or forced better terms for Kotick's board.

Second-order effects

With no rival bidder, Microsoft bore the full regulatory burden alone — the concessions it later weighed, like offloading UK cloud gaming rights to a third party, came without a competing offer to strengthen its negotiating hand.

Third-order effects

A publisher facing a governance crisis becomes a platform acquisition target rather than a turnaround candidate: if the pattern holds, big-tech platform owners — Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Google — are the default buyers of scaled gaming content, shrinking the pool of independent major publishers.

The trend: Gaming's largest publishers are being absorbed by platform-owning tech giants, with crisis moments accelerating consolidation that antitrust regulators, not rival bidders, now arbitrate.

Discussion

Pure Xbox Pure Xbox on x
Activision Looked For Other Buyers Before Accepting Xbox Offer
@tieguytravis @tieguytravis on x
I have a friend whose first day at Activision was this past Monday. He left his job at Microsoft for the position.
@witch_cass @witch_cass on x
WSJ effectively confirming that the sale to Microsoft is an attempt to rehabilitate Activision-Blizzard's image. https://twitter.com/...
@jordannovet Jordan Novet on x
‘Activision made calls to try to find other interested parties, said the people ... . Those included Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and at least one other big company. But no other serious interest materialized.’ https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@imranzomg Imran Khan on x
I'm so mad we didn't shit on Kotick enough that he threatened to buy us https://twitter.com/...
@_hanatwothree Hana Kim on x
“what if we bought the news so they stop being mean to me? is that on the table?” https://twitter.com/...
@business @business on x
Pressure over sexual-misconduct allegations at Activision spurred Microsoft to reach out and engage in merger talks https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@stephentotilo Stephen Totilo on x
Bloomberg reports that Activision, initially hesitant to sell to Microsoft, tried to see if Facebook/Meta would buy them. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@martinsfp Martin Sfp Bryant on x
Bloomberg says Activision Blizzard received an acquisition offer from Microsoft late last year amid the scandals, and no-one else was interested in buying. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@davidgura David Gura on x
Xbox head Phil Spencer reportedly “said he and Microsoft's gaming leadership team were ‘disturbed and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions’ at Activision. “Behind the scenes, Spencer was working on a merger approach.” https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Chronicles