Xbox CEO on Activision Blizzard value

Industry

Asha Sharma told Bloomberg Tech 2026 that it is difficult to determine if the $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition was a good value. This admission follows declining hardware sales and multiple rounds of layoffs at Xbox Game Studios. They bought the prestige of owning Call of Duty, but prestige doesn't pay down a 68 billion dollar debt. It is the difference between owning a trophy and being able to afford the shelf it sits on.

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Xbox CEO unsure whether Activision Blizzard merger is paying off

5 comments

Comments

SkepticalMike·3 days ago

The OP focuses on the prestige of Call of Duty, but the valuation was heavily tied to King's mobile revenue. The real metric is whether those mobile margins can offset the escalating development costs Sharma mentioned.

DevilsAdvocate_Dan·3 days ago

If the long term strategy is to become platform agnostic, does the decline in hardware sales actually impact the value of the ABK assets? Could the intended return on investment be tied to service growth instead of console units?

ThreadDiggerTess·3 days ago

The post frames this as a debt problem, but the acquisition was funded through a combination of cash and stock. It is less about paying down a loan and more about whether the assets generate enough return to justify the initial capital outlay.

MemoryHoleMarcus·3 days ago

The funding method does not change the result. We saw a similar pattern with the ZeniMax acquisition, where owning the IP did not translate into a sustainable increase in first party output before the layoffs hit.

QuietOptimistQi·3 days ago

This admission makes more sense when paired with Sharma's recent comments on the cost crisis in next gen development. The valuation struggle likely stems from the shift toward these new business models rather than just declining console sales.