Datastream
Visualizing the Biggest Gaming Company Acquisitions of All-Time
The Briefing
- Microsoft will acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion.
- 10 of the 15 biggest gaming company acquisitions have happened in the last three years.
The Most Expensive Gaming Company Acquisitions
Not even a week after Take-Two Interactive acquired mobile game developer Zynga for $12.7 billion, Microsoft claimed the title for the most expensive gaming acquisition in history.
The tech giant will acquire the famed gaming company Activision Blizzard, for $69 billion. This makes them one of the biggest video game development market players (a fact that has not escaped the notice of the FTC).
Such multi-billion gaming company acquisitions are quickly becoming a norm. Some of the largest takeovers have occurred in the past three to five years.
A Brief History of the Major Gaming Company Acquisitions
Until January 2022, Tencent’s $8.6 billion purchase of gaming publisher Supercell was the biggest video game industry acquisition.
2022 completely changed that with two of the biggest acquisitions happening within the first couple of weeks.
Here are the top 15 most expensive gaming company acquisitions in history:
Rank | Acquirer | Target | Year of Acquisition | Deal size ($B) |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | Microsoft | Activision Blizzard | 2022 | 68.7 |
#2 | Take-Two Interactive | Zynga | 2022 | 12.7 |
#3 | Tencent | Supercell (84% Acquisition) | 2016 | 8.6 |
#4 | Microsoft | ZeniMax Media | 2020 | 7.5 |
#5 | Activision Blizzard | King | 2015 | 5.9 |
#6 | ByteDance | Moonton | 2021 | 4.0 |
#7 | Sony | Bungie | 2022 | 3.6 |
#8 | Microsoft | Mojang | 2014 | 2.5 |
#9 | Electronic Arts | Glu Mobile | 2021 | 2.4 |
#10 | Oculus VR | 2014 | 2.0 | |
#11 | Zynga | Peak | 2020 | 1.8 |
#12 | Bandai | Namco | 2005 | 1.7 |
#13 | Electronic Arts | Playdemic | 2021 | 1.4 |
#14 | Tencent | Leyou | 2020 | 1.3 |
#15 | Tencent | Sumo Group | 2021 | 1.3 |
10 of the 15 biggest gaming company acquisitions have happened in the last three years.
Microsoft’s Billion Dollar Bets on Video Games
Microsoft’s announcement to acquire Activision Blizzard is the clearest sign yet of the company’s ambitions to become a giant in the world of gaming.
This merger would make Microsoft the third-largest video game company globally in terms of revenue and the publisher behind games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
The acquisition of Activision Blizzard wasn’t the only major takeover that Microsoft has ever made. Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media in 2020 for $7.5 billion, and Minecraft creator Mojang Studios for $2.5 billion in 2014.
Here are all the gaming companies and studios that Microsoft currently owns:
Part of the reason Microsoft has made such massive acquisitions is to play catch up and better compete in the gaming market. The sales of their Xbox console have also fared relatively poorly compared to PlayStation devices.
Sony’s announcement to buy Destiny creator Bungie might be their attempt to neutralize Microsoft’s recent acquisitions, and it remains to be seen how that will play out.
The Future of Gaming and Further Acquisitions
As mobile gaming revenues explode, companies are trying to cash in their relevance in the online social space. Even in the middle of a pandemic, around 1,500 mergers and acquisitions worth $43 billion took place in 2020.
With newer changes in the user experience domain cropping up, gaming is now inextricably linked to the current metaverse trend. As online games and streaming become mainstream, we might experience gaming in a completely new and immersive way.
As big tech companies continue to move into gaming to diversify their revenue streams, we may see more acquisitions and consolidations on the horizon.
Datastream
AWS: Powering the Internet and Amazon’s Profits
Amazon is best known for its sprawling ecommerce empire, but three-quarters of the company’s profits actually come from cloud computing.

The Briefing
- Cloud computing has become a hugely important element of Amazon’s business
- In 2021, AWS accounted for 13% of Amazon’s revenue, but clocks in nearly three-quarters of their operating profit
AWS: Powering the Internet and Amazon’s Profits
The Amazon growth story has been a remarkable one so far.
On the top line, the company has grown every single year since its inception. Even in going back to 2004, Amazon generated a much more modest $6.9 billion in revenue compared to the massive $469 billion for 2021.
Most of these sales come from their retail and ecommerce operations, which the company has come to be known for. However, on the bottom line, the source of profit paints a completely different picture. That’s because 74% of Amazon’s operating profit comes from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Here’s a closer look at the financials around Amazon and AWS:
Year | AWS Operating Profit ($B) | Total Operating Profit ($B) | AWS % of Operating Profit | Revenue ($B) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | $18.5 | $24.8 | 74% | $469.8 |
2020 | $13.5 | $22.9 | 59% | $386.1 |
2019 | $9.2 | $14.5 | 63% | $280.5 |
2018 | $7.2 | $12.4 | 58% | $232.8 |
Ultimately, the data suggests that the cloud business has been, and possibly will always remain, a higher margin business and consistent profit center in comparison to ecommerce and the physical distribution of goods.
A Glance at AWS
AWS is Amazon’s cloud computing service that provides the critical infrastructure for an assortment of applications like data storage and networking. With this, they help fuel over a million organizations including businesses like Twitter and Netflix and even both the U.S. and Canadian Federal Governments.
Here are some other notable entities and the monthly payments they’ve made towards AWS:
AWS Customer | Monthly Payments ($M) |
---|---|
Netflix | $19 |
Twitch | $15 |
$13 | |
$11 | |
Turner Broadcasting | $10 |
BBC | $9 |
Baidu | $9 |
ESPN | $8 |
Adobe | $8 |
$7 |
Source: Continho (2020)
Based on these monthly figures from 2020, AWS collects $1.3 billion in sales a year just from these 10 customers, while raking in $62 billion of revenue overall. Moreover, this makes them the leader in the competitive cloud market.
In an industry worth an excess of $180 billion, Amazon’s 33% market share position exceeds both Google and Microsoft (Azure) combined. Their market share also surpasses the bottom six shown on the chart combined, who are formidable tech giants in their own right.
The Future of AWS?
AWS has been a cash cow for years and there have even been rumors of an Amazon split up, where AWS would spin off as its own entity. It’s believed by some that if the cloud segment of the business separates, it will be seen as a pure play on the cloud industry and will be awarded a higher valuation multiple by the market.
One thing is for sure, from the perspective of profits, Amazon could be better be described as a cloud company, with an ecommerce business on the side.
Where does this data come from?
Source: Amazon SEC Filings
Notes: Operating profit is the profit from the business before the deduction of non-operating expenses like interest and taxes.
Datastream
Ranked: These Are 10 of the World’s Least Affordable Housing Markets
An analysis of 90+ major cities reveals which ones are the least affordable housing markets based on their price-to-income ratio.

The Briefing
- For the 12th year in a row, Hong Kong is the world’s least affordable housing market, according to Demographia’s ranking of 92 cities in select countries
- Sydney, Australia moves up one spot from last year’s ranking to take second place
These Are 10 of the World’s Least Affordable Housing Markets
It’s become increasingly difficult for middle-class families to purchase a home over the last few years—and the global pandemic has only made things worse.
According to Demographia’s 2022 Housing Affordability Report, the number of housing markets around the world deemed “severely unaffordable” increased by 60% compared to 2019 (prior to the pandemic).
This graphic looks at some of the least affordable housing markets across the globe, relative to median household income. The report covers 92 different cities in eight nations: Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Least Affordable Housing Markets
Before diving in, it’s worth outlining the methodology used in this report, to help explain what’s classified as a severely unaffordable housing market.
To calculate affordability, a city’s median housing price and divided by its median household income. From there, a city is given a score:
- A score of 5.1 or above is considered severely unaffordable
- 4.1 to 5.0 is considered seriously unaffordable
- 3.1 to 4.0 is considered moderately unaffordable
All the cities on this graphic are classified as severely unaffordable—and, for the 12th year in a row, Hong Kong takes the top spot as the world’s most unaffordable housing market, with a score of 23.2.
Housing Market | Nation | Score |
---|---|---|
Hong Kong | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong (SAR) | 23.2 |
Sydney, NSW | 🇦🇺 Australia | 15.3 |
Vancouver, BC | 🇨🇦 Canada | 13.3 |
San Jose, CA | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 12.6 |
Melbourne, VIC | 🇦🇺 Australia | 12.1 |
Honolulu, HI | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 12.0 |
San Francisco, CA | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 11.8 |
Auckland, AUK | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 11.2 |
Los Angeles, CA | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 10.7 |
Toronto, ON | 🇨🇦 Canada | 10.5 |
One reason for Hong Kong’s steep housing costs is its lack of supply, partly due to its lack of residential zoning—which only accounts for 7% of the region’s zoned land. For context, 75% of New York City’s land area is dedicated to residential housing.
Sydney moved up one spot this year, making it the second most expensive city to purchase a home on the list, with a score of 15.3. Besides Hong Kong, no other city has scored this high in the last 18 years this report has been released.
There are several theories for Sydney’s soaring housing rates, but industry expert Tom Forrest, CEO of Urban Taskforce Australia, boils it down to one fundamental issue in an interview with Australia Broker—supply isn’t keeping up with demand:
“Housing supply has been consistently not meeting demand in the Greater Sydney and across regional New South Wales…if you have supply consistently not meeting demand then the price will go up. That’s what happened and we’re seeing it in abundance.”Tom Forrest, CEO of Urban Taskforce Australia
The COVID-19 Impact
Middle-income earners were already feeling the squeeze prior to the global pandemic, but COVID-19 only exacerbated housing affordability issues.
As people began to work from home, high-income earners started to look for more spacious housing that wasn’t necessarily in the city center, driving up demand in suburban areas that were relatively affordable prior to the pandemic.
At the same time, supply chain issues and material costs impacted construction, which created a perfect storm that ultimately drove housing prices up.
But with interest rates rising and COVID-19 restrictions easing around the world, some experts are predicting a market cool down this year—at least in some parts of the world.
>>Like this? Then you might like this article: How Much Prime Real Estate Could You Buy for $1M?
Where does this data come from?
Source: Demographia
Details: The affordability score is calculated by taking a city’s median housing price and dividing it by the median household income. Anything over 5.1 is considered severely unaffordable
Notes: Data includes 92 metropolitan markets across eight countries; Australia, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, China, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S., as of the third quarter of 2021. Many European countries, along wth Japan, we excluded from the dataset, because information on median income was not readily available.
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