Microsoft's Activision deal will help the company to "democratise game building". Satya Nadella, the US software company’s chief executive, has explained the firm's ambition behind the $75 billion acquisition, which is the world’s biggest-ever tech deal.
Nadella explained that the purchase would enable it to "democratise game building, which today is only done in the context of entertainment". The Microsoft boss told the Financial Times newspaper: "We can start dreaming [that] through these metaverses I can literally be in the game, just like I can be in a conference room with you in a meeting. That metaphor ... will manifest itself in different contexts."
Nadella also disputed the idea that the acquisition is anti-competitive. He said: "Even post this acquisition, we will be number three with sort of low-teens share [of the video games market] ... We will be a bit player in what will be a highly fragmented place."
Microsoft announced the record-breaking deal in January. The move represents the biggest acquisition in the company's history. Nadella said at the time: "We're investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all."