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After announcing the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft CEO and President Satya Nadella stated that games "will play a key role in the development of Metaverse platforms. Microsoft Crop. acquires gaming giant Activision Blizzard Inc., its game plans, and Metaverse. Note: Participate in the New Year promo Contest of LiteFinance & Win iPhone 13 Pro Max! Activision Blizzard is home to a long list of iconic gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, and Tony Hawk's ProSkater. After the deal, their games will be added to Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service, which has 25 million subscribers. According to a Jan. 18 Microsoft announcement, the company will acquire Activision Blizzard for $95.00 per share at a valuation of $68.7 billion. The deal will close in fiscal 2023, making Microsoft the third largest gaming company. It trails Tencent, owner of Riot Games, and Playstation developer Sony in terms of revenue. Noting that the acquisition will support the growth of its mobile, PC, console, and cloud gaming services, Microsoft notably also stated that it will provide "building blocks for the Metaverse. "Satya Nadella, CEO and President of Microsoft said, “Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting entertainment category across all platforms today and will play a key role in the evolution of Metaverse platforms. As part of the acquisition, Microsoft announced that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will remain at the helm until the deal closes, at which point the reins will be handed over to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. Spencer welcomed the deal in an Xbox blog post, stressing that the company is working to make cloud gaming accessible on as many devices as possible. However, he didn't mention the Metaverse or NFTs, sectors that have faced backlash from some parts of the gaming community. “Activision Blizzard's amazing franchises will also accelerate our plans for cloud gaming, allowing more people in more places around the world to participate in the Xbox community using the phones, tablets, laptops, and other devices they already own ' he wrote Spencer. In November Nadella first unveiled Microsoft's Metaverse plans through an update to its Teams service and a product called Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces. The "Mesh" update for teams is scheduled to introduce custom digital avatars and immersive meeting rooms in the Metaverse later this year. Nadella also stated at the time that people "can absolutely expect" Microsoft to integrate Metaverse features into Xbox gaming consoles, but didn't reveal any concrete plans or specific details. It's unclear if Microsoft's Metaverse game for Xbox will feature the introduction of NFTs, with Spencer stating in November that he found experimenting with NFTs "more exploitative than fun." Spencer noted that if the Xbox Store supported NFT, the company would actively remove any nefarious behavior or content.