Activision Blizzard Buys Candy Crush Maker For Almost $6 Billion
Activision Blizzard has revealed that they are to buy King Digital Entertainment, the creators of the hugely popular mobile game Candy Crush. The deal will be worth around $5.9 billion and give Activision Blizzard control of one of the most played games in the world, with the Candy Crush series regularly seeing more than half a billion active users every month. According to Activision Blizzard, the purchase makes sense because it allows the publisher to broaden its demographic and audience significantly. While many of its biggest franchises such as Call of Duty and Destiny are popular with males, more than 60% of the players of Candy Crush and other King Digital Entertainment’s games are female. The audience is also readily available because all a player needs is a smartphone and not a dedicated games console. This is important for the company as they have seen increased profits thanks to previous diversification, particularly with the Skylanders franchise. In a statement, Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick said: “With a combined global