Every game and studio Microsoft now owns

A selection of key Blizzard characters
(Image credit: Activision-Blizzard)

Two years after buying ZeniMax Media and scooping up games like The Elder Scrolls and Starfield, Microsoft has announced its plans to purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. The acquisition, which is set to finalize in July 2023, will be one of the biggest buyouts in gaming. Microsoft will own developers behind even more of the most popular games, including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Candy Crush.

With Microsoft gobbling up so many studios and games, it's difficult to keep track of what the mammoth corporation owns. To make it a little clearer, here's a list of every studio that Microsoft Studios owns.

Although this list is hefty, it's not the ultimate reflection of Microsoft's influence. The company also has plenty of other distribution deals with a variety of developers that are not listed here because it does not directly own them, like Ori and the Blind Forest developer Moon Studios. 

Publishers

ZeniMax Media

Price: $7.5 billion

Studios: Bethesda Game Studios, ZeniMax Online Studios, id Software, Arkane Studios, Machine Games, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios

Best-known games and franchises: The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Dishonored, and The Evil Within

Upcoming games: Ghostwire: Tokyo, Redfall, and Starfield 

Activision Blizzard

Price: $68.7 billion

Studios: Blizzard, Treyarch, Infinity Ward, High Moon Studios, Toys for Bob, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Beenox, Radical Entertainment, and Vicarious Visions (now merged with Blizzard)

Best-known games and franchises: Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, Overwatch, StarCraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Guitar Hero, Skylanders, and Spyro the Dragon

Upcoming games: Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, and Call of Duty (2022)

Developers

Rare

Price: $375 million

Best-known games and franchises: GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Viva Piñata, Sea of Thieves, and Battletoads

Upcoming games: Everwild

343 Industries (Halo)

Price: Unknown

Best-known games and franchises: Halo

Upcoming games: Unknown 

The Coalition (Gears of War)

Price: Unknown

Best-known games and franchises: Gears of War

Upcoming games: Unknown 

Mojang

Price: $2.5 billion

Best-known games and franchises: Minecraft and Minecraft Dungeons

Upcoming games: Unknown 

Ninja Theory

Price: Unknown

Best-known games and franchises: Heavenly Sword, DmC: Devil May Cry, Disney Infinity, and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Upcoming games: Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 and Project: Mara 

Playground Games

Price: Unknown

Best-known games and franchises: Forza Horizon, Forza Motorsport

Upcoming games: Fable 

Undead Labs

Price: Unknown

Best-known games and franchises: State of Decay

Upcoming games: State of Decay 3 

Compulsion Games

Price: Unknown

Best-known games and franchises: Contrast and We Happy Few

Upcoming games: Unknown 

Obsidian Entertainment

Price: Unknown

Best-known games and franchises: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Pillars of Eternity, The Outer Worlds, and Grounded

Upcoming games: Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 

InXile Entertainment

Price: Unknown

Best-known games and franchises: Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and Wasteland 3

Upcoming games: Unknown 

Double Fine

Price: Unknown

Best-known games and franchises: Psychonauts, Broken Age, Brütal Legend, Costume Quest, and Grim Fandango Remastered

Upcoming games: Unknown 

Tried to buy

Discord

Price: $12 billion

Why it didn't happen: Discord rejected the bid, according to Bloomberg

Square Enix

Price: Unknown

Why it didn't happen: Square Enix refuted the report, claiming that it's not selling off the company or any part of its businesses. 

Tyler has covered videogames and PC hardware for 15 years. He regularly spends time playing and reporting on games like Diablo 4, Elden Ring, Overwatch 2, and Final Fantasy 14. While his specialty is in action RPGs and MMOs, he's driven to cover all sorts of games whether they're broken, beautiful, or bizarre.

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