Company Behind Candy Crush Gets Acquired For $5.9 Billion
November 27, 2015
We all know about the incredibly popular mobile game Candy Crush and for those of us who do not engage in playing this game, are aware of how equally annoying it can be. But our opinions aren’t exactly the ones that count as the company behind Candy Crush, King Digital Entertainment, just got acquired for $5.9 billion – yes you read that right.
The acquisition was made by one of the biggest names in video games – Activision Blizzard. The company is responsible for creating popular military shooter franchise Call of Duty and the fantasy game World of Warcraft.
The acquisition was made by one of the biggest names in video games – Activision Blizzard. The company is responsible for creating popular military shooter franchise Call of Duty and the fantasy game World of Warcraft
In a statement made after the acquisition, Activision’s CEO Robert Kotick said in a statement, “Mobile gaming is the largest and fastest-growing opportunity for interactive entertainment and we will have one of the world’s most successful mobile game companies and its talented teams providing great content to new customers, in new geographies throughout the world,”
King Digital which was founded in 2003, has over 180 games under its belt but the one game that overshadows all is Candy Crush Saga. According to the company, it has 158million daily user, with over a billion game plays per day. Now that is a feat which remains unparalleled.
The game was initially designed to be played on Facebook, before it went on to conquer mobile devices. Candy Crush was released in April 2012 on the social network followed by its iOS release in November of the same year and on Android a month after. A year since its release, Candy crush ‘crushed’ the then most popular game on Facebook, FarmVille 2. It eventually went on to become the most download iOS app of 2013.
Activision will pay $18 a share for King, which is a 16% premium to the company’s closing stock price Monday of $15.54. After the company went public in March 2014 at $22.50, its stock price has been dwindling.