Activision has announced that it acquired Candy Crush developer King Digital for $5.9 billion. The deal will have to go through approval in Ireland — where King is based out of — with a final agreement expected by spring of 2016.
Candy Crush continues to be one of the most popular games on mobile, bringing in $1.4 billion in revenue for King in 2014, and $529 million in the first half of 2015. By acquiring the franchise, Activision is now the "most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment," according to CEO Bobby Kotick.
Activision Blizzard believes that the addition of King's highly-complementary business will position Activision Blizzard as a global leader in interactive entertainment across mobile, console and PC platforms, and positions the company for future growth. The combined company will have a world-class interactive entertainment portfolio of top-performing franchises, including two of the top five highest-grossing mobile games in the U.S. (Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga), the world's most successful console game franchise (Call of Duty), and the world's most successful personal computing franchise (World of Warcraft), as well as such well known franchises as Blizzard Entertainment's Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo and Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero, Skylanders and Destiny, along with over 1,000 game titles in its library.
Source: Activision