Tales of the Rampant Coyote

Adventures in Indie Gaming!

Five Point Nine Billion For a Bunch of Candy Crushers

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 3, 2015

I don’t know what to say. But seeing as that rarely stops me from spewing whateverage on this blog, I’m sure I’ll find something anyway.

Activision buys Candy Crush creator King for $6 Billion

Thought 1: Incredulity. Is Activision itself even worth $6 billion? I guess so, but that’s a lot of money.  (Answer: Yes, checking Google Finance, Activision Blizzard has 739 million shares at ~ $33.50 per share, so that’d give them a value of $24.4 billion). But for comparison, Disney bought Lucasfilm for a relative bargain price of $4 billion. Mojang was bought for $2.5 billion, which … well, okay, that was still pretty mind-boggling. Mind-boggling all the way across the board.

Thought 2: Disappointment. In preparation for their IPO, King.com got especially nasty with lawyers and trademark issues. Like trademarking the word “Saga” and trying to trademark the word “Candy.” It’s astonishing and disgusting that the “saga” trademark was even granted in the first place. It’s also disappointing that they’ve proven so successful using energy mechanics and practices that are… well, maybe not unethical, but borderline and somewhat predatory, and probably not good for the long-term health of the industry. And as a reward for their bad behavior, they made bank, setting an example throughout the industry.

Yes, I’m not the biggest fan of King.com. While I don’t consider Activision Blizzard to be a sterling example of virtue or anything, I guess there’s a chance they might serve as an influence for good. Or the other way around. I don’t know.

Ah, well. How much will this impact me, personally, as a small-time indie developer? Probably in no noticeable way. Hopefully.


Filed Under: Biz - Comments: 4 Comments to Read



  • Infinitron said,

    Didn’t EA try this with PopCap once and get burnt?

  • OttoMoBiehl said,

    Well, according to Google Activisions market cap is $26.11 Billion. However, I also think that they are basically flushing money down the toilet with the acquisition of King.

    I was disgusted with them because of their IPO antics and have made it a point to actively discourage people from using their apps. Not that people listen to me.

    Anyway, I know it’s childish but I hope this come back to burn Activision.

  • lakerz said,

    OttMoBiehl – I guess I am childish too because I felt the exact same way and did all I could to have nothing to do with King even to the point of talking to people who were playing their games. They got rather annoyed with me. Still, just the worst kind of unethical behavior. In a way, they have found the perfect fit with Activision. Is that jerk Robert Kotick still the head there? I always liked to call him Dick Kotick. He also really rubbed me the wrong way with a lot of his actions.

  • Modran said,

    Heh. I did the same, lakerz, to the point of pointing them towards a RPS article on “alternative to Candy Crush” : http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/02/18/what-to-play-instead-of-candy-crush-saga/
    They got rather annoyed too…

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