Activision Blizzard to acquire Candy Crush maker King for $5.9 billion

A person plays "Candy Crush."
(Image credit: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images)

Activision Blizzard Inc., the video game maker that owns World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Diablo, announced Monday it will buy Candy Crush Saga creator King Digital Entertainment for $5.9 billion.

The company will pay $18 in cash per King share, Reuters reports. In a statement, Activision Blizzard Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said: "With a combined global network of more than half a billion monthly active users, our potential to reach audiences around the world on the device of their choosing enables us to deliver great games to even bigger audiences than ever before." King, which creates games for mobile devices and social media platforms, will continue as an independent operating unit, the companies said in a statement.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.