Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard Plus Code Meta Universe has recently increased in the game industry

Microsoft announced a cash acquisition of up to $68.7 billion worth of U.S. game company Activision Blizzard, the highest deal in the field.

Microsoft will buy Activision Blizzard at $95 per share, a price premium of 45 percent to Friday's closing price, after it surged 45 percent to $65.4 at one point before Activision Blizzard's share price was suspended on Tuesday. Microsoft shares fell more than 2 percent at one point, at $304.50 in the U.S. stock as of press time.

The acquisition is also a radical proof of Microsoft's entry into the metacosm. "Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting area of entertainment for all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of the metaverse platform." Microsoft CEO Nadella said in a statement. He also said that 3 billion people around the world play games.

Over the past few years, Microsoft has become more aggressive when it comes to gaming. It acquired game developer Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014. Last year, Microsoft completed a $7.5 billion acquisition of game developer Bethesda. The latest deal will help Microsoft better compete with Meta in the metaverse era, and Activision Blizzard owns mobile games including Candy Crush, one of the most popular and profitable mobile games out there.

Demand for video games has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as people have more time to stay at home and have more gaming entertainment. Games such as Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty and Overwatch have also given Microsoft's Xbox gaming platform an edge in the competition with Sony Playstation.

Acquisitions by game companies have also increased recently. Last week, Activision Blizzard's rival Take-Two said it would buy game development company Zynga for $11 billion in cash and stock, making it one of the largest industry acquisitions ever made at the time.

Under the acquisition agreement between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard and report to Phil Spencer, Microsoft's Xbox head. However, since last year, Activision Blizzard has been in trouble with sexual harassment, and Kotick is under pressure to resign.