Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is bigger than you think

It's not every day there's a ground-breaking acquisition that becomes the biggest of its kind in gaming and esports. Last year, esports had its largest-ever deal with FTX's $210 million sponsorship of North American organization TSM, and just last week in gaming it was revealed that Microsoft was to acquire Activision Blizzard in a $69 billion transaction.

Front Office Sports has put the acquisition into context by comparing it with other expensive properties, illustrating the true scale of the deal.

Perspective: $69 billion is not a value to scoff as it is, but wait until you see what else that figure could have gotten Microsoft.

• Each of the 32 NHL teams, twice.
• Every MLB team — that's 30!
• 29 NBA teams.
• 22 NFL teams.

Finer details: Though this acquisition is already being used to signal how big the industry is by gaming evangelists, it's not quite a done deal just yet.

• The deal is expected to close in 2023 should all go well.
• Only Tencent and Sony would make more revenue than Microsoft in the entire gaming industry.
• Microsoft will own major franchises such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, Spyro, Diablo, Tony Hawk, Warcraft, and StarCraft.

Questions for the future: Providing the deal does close, how does Activision Blizzard look under a company with a vastly different ethos?

• Will the accusations against Activision Blizzard be largely swept under the rug with this news?
• Will a dwindling amount of competition in games development stifle creativity and innovation?
• Would it benefit Microsoft more to make titles exclusive to Xbox consoles than to keep them across multiple platforms?