Microsoft bought Mojang and Minecraft for $2.5 billion. But for Notch's onetime employers King, that would just about cover the deposit. Activision Blizzard are to pay $5.9 billion to acquire the architects of Candy Crush Saga.
King reported annual profits of $575m in February – and at that rate Kotick and co. are looking at half a decade before breaking even. But Activision hope the numbers will get better still, pointing out that mobile gaming as a whole is expected to accrue over $36 billion by the end of this year.
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There's a new audience to think about too. Kotick told Reuters that buying King will help Activision reach the mobile developer's 60% female audience – perhaps mindful of Call of Duty's Replacer ads, which invariably offered to take poor young men away from domestic responsibility.
"You have such broad reach [with King]," said the Activision overlord. "This is a fantastic opportunity for us to create compelling content for new demographics."
As with other, similar deals, Activision have made use of a big chunk of offshore cash. Apparently the acquisition will see their 2016 revenue and earnings increase by about 30% – although King's candy hasn't proven particular moreish for investors since the company went public in March.
In maybe more pertinent ActiBlizz news, Warcraft movie warpaint. Think you'll be watching the opening ceremony stream?