It’s hard to escape the news: Microsoft is set to acquire Activision Blizzard in a massive deal of nearly $70 billion. The merger isn’t finalized, but even scrutiny from U.S. senators may not actually put the brakes on it. That would actually be Microsoft’s third failed attempt at acquiring Blizzard if so.
Former Microsoft executive Ed Fries said as much during an appearance on the Xbox Era podcast. Fries, who was vice president of game publishing during the original Xbox lifecycle, was asked about the proverbial ‘acquisition that got away,’ and the answer is Blizzard — twice. “I tried really hard to buy Blizzard,” Fries responded. “I was a huge Blizzard fan. They got acquired early in their history by this learning company called Davidson, and so they were always part of this bigger organization.” Davidson eventually put Blizzard up for sale in the 90s (years before the release of World of Warcraft), but Fries was outbid by a “timeshare camping company.”
Blizzard changed hands a few times, and Fries’ second strikeout came during one of those bidding wars. That time, a French water utility company came out on top. The company, Vivendi, eventually became the media conglomerate people know today and merged its gaming wing with Activision Blizzard in 2007. Fries had left Microsoft a few years before that, but at least the dream of owning Blizzard is coming full circle now.
Blizzard wasn’t the only company Fries chased during those days. Westwood Studios, makers of the Command & Conquer series, was also targeted. “We were very close to acquiring Westwood Studios,” Fries said. “At that point, we had Age of Empires, and it was going very well.” That deal eventually went to EA, but Microsoft continues to find success with Age of Empires. A new India expansion for II’s Definitive Edition is coming this month, in fact.
