Activision seals King acquisition, creating ‘the largest game network in the world’

The $5.9bn deal that sees Activision take ownership of Candy Crush creator King has been completed.

The acquisition was first unveiled back in November.

King CEO Riccardo Zacconi, CCO Sebastian Knutsson and COO Stephane Kurgan remain in place, with the company continuing to operate as an independent unit of Activision Blizzard.

"We now reach over 500m users across almost every country, making us the largest game network in the world,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said.

We see great opportunities to create new ways for audiences to experience their favourite franchises, from Candy Crush to World of Warcraft to Call of Duty and more, across mobile devices, consoles and personal computers. On behalf of Activision Blizzard, we are delighted to welcome Riccardo, Sebastian, Stephane and all of King’s talented employees to our family."

Zacconi added: "We are thrilled to now be a part of Activision Blizzard and can’t wait to start working together. I want to thank everyone at King for all of their hard work since we founded the company 13 years ago.

We are excited about the future as we continue developing more exciting games and explore new ways to serve our players and build on the greatest franchises in interactive entertainment."