Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year:

• Revenue was $65.6 billion and increased 16%
• Operating income was $30.6 billion and increased 14%
• Net income was $24.7 billion and increased 11% (up 10% in constant currency)
• Diluted earnings per share was $3.30 and increased 10%

"AI-driven transformation is changing work, work artifacts, and workflow across every role, function, and business process," said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. "We are expanding our opportunity and winning new customers as we help them apply our AI platforms and tools to drive new growth and operating leverage."

SteelSeries, the original esports brand that fuses gaming and culture, KontrolFreek, the creator of Performance Gaming Gear, and ACTIVISION, creator of the genre-defining series of Call of Duty, today unveiled a new collection of limited-edition gaming gear for Call of Duty: Zombies, delivering a must-have collection of peripherals for fans of the Zombies franchise.

As the gaming community gears up for the next installment of the iconic Call of Duty franchise, SteelSeries and KontrolFreek have crafted a collection inspired by the grisly and mysterious world of Call of Duty: Zombies. The partnership marks a milestone collaboration between the brands in the gaming world, each known for delivering exceptional experiences to players.

Leading gaming accessories maker Turtle Beach Corporation (Nasdaq: HEAR), and Performance Designed Products LLC (PDP) today announced the launch of two new Call of Duty -themed controllers as gamers gravitate toward this year's highly anticipated Call of Duty launch. Gamers on PS5 and PS4 consoles and PC can now get their hands on the new Victrix Pro BFG Wireless Controller: Call of Duty - Field Op edition, while the Designed for Xbox REMATCH GLOW Advanced Wired Controller: Call of Duty - Mister Peeks edition is for gamers on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows 10/11 PCs.

The Victrix Pro BFG Call of Duty - Field Op Wireless Controller is available now at www.PDP.com, Amazon, and participating retailers for $199.99/£179.99/€199.99 MSRP. The REMATCH GLOW Call of Duty - Mister Peeks Wired Controller is available for $37.99/£34.99/€39.99 MSRP at www.PDP.com, Amazon, and participating retailers. Both loadouts are ready for immediate deployment, while supplies last.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is fast approaching its October 25 launch date on the PC Microsoft Store, Battle.net and Steam. In partnership with Treyarch Studios, Call of Duty PC lead developer Beenox is developing a cutting-edge PC experience with 4K graphics and Ultrawide support plus a huge number of options across a variety of settings so players can dial in the best playing experience possible.

Get the Ultimate Performance Boost with AMD FSR 3.1
Some of the major features include:

• AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution
  • AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 transforms your gaming experience with faster, more responsive framerates in Black Ops 6 using super resolution temporal upscaling and advanced frame generation.
• Advanced Frame Generation Technologies
  • The FSR Frame Generation toggle found in your graphics settings allows you to enable Frame Generation, which significantly increases your framerate and works seamlessly with other upscaling solutions.
• AMD FidelityFX Contrast Adaptive Sharpening (CAS)
  • An overhead sharpening slider can help bring more details to edges of weapons, players, and environments.

AMD FSR 3.1 is compatible with a wide range of graphics cards from AMD and other vendors, delivering exceptional upscaling image quality and massive performance boosts when gaming at 4K or 1440p.

Corsair, a leading global developer and manufacturer of high-performance gear and technology for gamers, content creators, and PC enthusiasts, has begun to release the first products in its multi-year, full cross-brand collaboration with the critically acclaimed Call of Duty franchise. This powerful new integration sees two of the world's best-known gaming brands come together for the first time with the collaboration extending across multiple product categories at Corsair including Drop, Elgato, ORIGIN PC and SCUF Gaming.

"We are thrilled to be teaming up with Activision and have our world-class brands come together as Corsair is set to deliver premium performance for Call of Duty players across all platforms whether it's playing Black Ops 6, capturing amazing content or streaming with friends," said Thi La, President and COO at Corsair. "Our goal has always been to fuel the Call of Duty fandom with best-in-class products built for today's gamers and we couldn't be more thrilled to partner with Corsair for the launch of Black Ops 6. The suite of officially licensed products will help elevate gaming stations everywhere in true Call of Duty Black Ops style," said Brooke Carpenter, Senior Director, Global Consumer Products at Activision.

CORSAIR, a leading global developer and manufacturer of high-performance gear and technology for gamers, content creators, and PC enthusiasts, has announced an exclusive multi-year, full cross-brand partnership with the critically acclaimed Call of Duty franchise. This powerful new integration sees two of the world's best-known gaming brands come together for the first time. The collaboration will include several Call of Duty titles, beginning with the launch of the highly-anticipated Call of Duty : Black Ops 6, releasing on October 25. The collaboration will extend across multiple product categories at CORSAIR including Drop, Elgato, ORIGIN PC and SCUF Gaming. Specific products, additional categories and more details will be announced over time.

"Teaming up with the world-renowned Call of Duty franchise is the perfect fit for the CORSAIR family of brands and for gamers looking to achieve a complete and immersive experience," said Andy Paul, Founder and CEO of CORSAIR. "We are thrilled to have these two world-class brands come together as CORSAIR is set to deliver premium performance for Call of Duty players across all platforms - PC, console and mobile - whether playing, capturing content or streaming."

Diablo IV received some severe backlash over microtransactions when it launched back in 2023, with some bundles even costing more than the $69.99 base game. It appears, however, that its microtransaction-laden monetization strategy has paid off, according to an accidental leak on LinkedIn from senior product manager, Harrison Froeschke.

According to the now-deleted LinkedIn profile update, Diablo IV has managed to generate a total of $1 billion in total revenue since it launched, with $150 million of that coming from microtransactions and in-game purchases. Perhaps more interestingly, though, is the fact that this is unusually low for an Activision-Blizzard game.

In a statement shared with Call Of Duty news website Charlie Intel, Activision confirms that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be sticking with a single global launch around October 25, 2024, with no early access benefits. As a result, players who are eager to try out what the Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 narrative campaign's complex storytelling has in-store for us, will have to wait until its official release. Activision are going to be focusing on a massive global launch for all game modes on October 25.

Unlike Black Ops 6, previously released Call Of Duty titles granted early access to the campaign mode for players who pre-order the title, with access to multiplayer matches for everyone during the official launch of the game.

GFN Thursday celebrates this leap day with the addition of a popular game store to the cloud. Stream the first titles from Blizzard Entertainment's Battle.net, including Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Call of Duty HQ and Hearthstone, now playable across more devices than ever. They're all part of the 30 new games coming to GeForce NOW in March, with eight available this week. Plus, Day Passes, announced at CES, are coming to the cloud next week, enabling gamers to experience the benefits of GeForce NOW Ultimate and Priority memberships for 24 hours at a time.

Welcome to the Cloud
Battle.net is Blizzard's digital storefront, a gateway to adventures in the Blizzard universe and home to a vibrant gaming community. Members who own Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Call of Duty HQ and Hearthstone on Battle.net can now stream these triple-A titles from NVIDIA GeForce RTX-powered servers in the cloud without worrying about hardware specs or long download times. Battle the forces of evil in the dark, treacherous world of Diablo IV's Sanctuary at up to 4K resolution and 120 frames per second with an Ultimate membership, even on under-powered devices. Assemble a deck to cast legendary spells in Hearthstone, and engage in epic firefights in Overwatch 2 and Call of Duty HQ at ultra-low latency thanks to the power of NVIDIA Reflex technology. Read this article and search for Hearthstone for more details on supported devices for this title.

As GDC, the world's largest game developer conference, returns to San Francisco, Microsoft and Xbox will be there to engage and empower developers, publishers, and technology partners across the industry. We are committed to supporting game developers on any platform, anywhere in the world, at every stage of development. Our message is simple: Microsoft and Xbox are here to help power your games and empower your teams. From March 18 - 22, the Xbox Lobby Lounge in the Moscone Center South can't be missed—an easy meeting point, and a first step toward learning more about the ID@Xbox publishing program, the Developer Acceleration Program (DAP) for underrepresented creators, Azure cloud gaming services, and anything else developers might need.

GDC features dozens of speakers from across Xbox, Activision, Blizzard, King and ZeniMax who will demonstrate groundbreaking in-game innovations and share community-building strategies. Microsoft technology teams, with support from partners, will also host talks that spotlight new tools, software and services that help increase developer velocity, grow player engagement and help creators grow. See below for the Conference programming details.

Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson has managed to glean information from a recent Sledgehammer Games "Town Hall" meeting—his source(s) allege that the Activision subsidiary is set for some major restructuring. Last week, Microsoft announced widespread cuts across its Xbox and Activision Blizzard departments—according to Henderson's investigations: "30% of Sledgehammer Games staff have lost their jobs." An earlier version of his report outlines a return to a "Work From Home" model for the rest of 2024, given that the studio is allegedly vacating their current space (located in Foster City, California). He suggested that this is a temporary measure: "until a new office is found near its current location. It's expected that employees will be working from home until the end of 2024."

Insider Gaming claims that it sources have leaked Activision's future plans for their highly prized Call of Duty franchise—despite layoffs and adjusted work conditions, the company's top brass are sticking with a regular release schedule: It's a move that comes at an interesting time for Sledgehammer Games, as it it was also announced during the Town Hall that the studio would be the main developer for Activision's 2027 Call of Duty title. Infinity Ward will be heading Call of Duty 2026, understood to be in the Modern Warfare universe. Call of Duty 2025 is currently planned to be a semi-futuristic Black Ops 2 sequel under the codename Saturn."

Today, the following email was delivered to all Blizzard employees by Johanna Faries, the new President of Blizzard Entertainment: "Dear Blizzard, though my official first day with you all is February 5, I want to let you know immediately that it is an honor to join you next week in this new capacity. I do so humbly and in awe of all that Blizzard has stood for and delivered to the world for over thirty years. Today also brings some mixed emotions. The loss of talented teammates in recent days is hard to hold side-by-side with the immense excitement I feel about joining Blizzard - and building on the momentum you've created for Blizzard's next chapter.

I want to thank Matt (Booty) for the introduction, bring some further clarity to today's announcement, and share more about how I see our future together at Blizzard. I understand this is a lot to take in. The news of my appointment may no doubt bring up a range of reactions, questions, even concerns. Activision, Blizzard, and King are decidedly different companies with distinct games, cultures, and communities. It is important to note that Call of Duty's way of waking up in the morning to deliver for players can often differ from the stunning games in Blizzard's realm: each with different gameplay experiences, communities that surround them, and requisite models of success. I've discussed this with the Blizzard leadership team and I'm walking into this role with sensitivity to those dynamics, and deep respect for Blizzard, as we begin to explore taking our universes to even higher heights."

Before ringing in the new year, GeForce NOW is taking a look back at a 2023 full of top-notch gaming. Explore GeForce NOW's year in review, which brought more hit games, improved service features and the launch of the Ultimate membership tier. Plus, GFN Thursday is raising a toast to the GeForce NOW community by delivering more than 40 new games to stream from the cloud.

Wrapping It Up
It's been an amazing year of cloud gaming. The launch of the Ultimate tier brought high-performance cloud gaming across North America and Europe, streaming from newly rolled out GeForce RTX 4080 SuperPODs. For the first time in the cloud, members could stream up to 240 frames per second, or 4K 120 FPS on the native PC and Mac apps, and experience support for ultrawide resolutions for the smoothest and most immersive gameplay - all thanks to the powerful NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU architecture. To prove the power of the cloud, NVIDIA gave gamers the ultimate test of latency on KovaaK's, a latency-sensitive, first-person-shooter aim trainer.

The upcoming release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is quickly approaching its November 10 PC launch date on Battle.net and Steam. In partnership with Sledgehammer Games, Call of Duty PC lead developer Beenox has ensured players have over 500 customization options at their fingertips, with 4K graphics and Ultrawide support, and a massive array of options across all manner of settings. We're also excited to share some of the highlights coming to the PC version of the game.

Get the Ultimate PC Modern Warfare III Experience with Performance Multiplying DLSS 3
DLSS 3 is a breakthrough in AI-powered graphics that boosts performance while maintaining great image quality and responsiveness. Building upon DLSS Super Resolution, DLSS 3 adds Frame Generation for GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs to create additional high quality frames and integrates NVIDIA Reflex low-latency technology for optimal responsiveness. When you play with other GeForce RTX GPUs, you can activate DLSS Super Resolution to accelerate your frame rates and enhance your Modern Warfare III experience. There are a couple of additional graphical presets for PC players to look for, and check out, as you adjust the visual quality that's right for you.

Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) ("Microsoft") and Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) ("Activision Blizzard") today announced that, in connection with the previously announced merger of Activision Blizzard with and into a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft (the "Merger"), with Activision Blizzard surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, Microsoft has commenced offers to Eligible Holders (as defined herein) to exchange (each an "Exchange Offer" and collectively, the "Exchange Offers") any and all outstanding notes issued by Activision Blizzard as set forth in the table below (the "Existing Activision Blizzard Notes") for up to $3,650,000,000 aggregate principal amount of new notes issued by Microsoft (the "New Microsoft Notes") and cash.

Concurrently with the Exchange Offers being made by Microsoft, Activision Blizzard is, upon Microsoft's request, soliciting consents from Eligible Holders (each, a "Consent Solicitation" and, collectively, the "Consent Solicitations") to adopt certain proposed amendments to each of the corresponding indentures governing the Existing Activision Blizzard Notes to eliminate certain of the covenants, restrictive provisions and events of default from such indentures (with respect to the corresponding indenture for such Existing Activision Blizzard Notes, the "Proposed Amendments"). Eligible Holders may deliver their consent to the Proposed Amendments only by tendering Existing Activision Blizzard Notes of the applicable series in the Exchange Offers and Consent Solicitations. Eligible Holders may not deliver a consent in a Consent Solicitation without tendering Existing Activision Blizzard Notes in the applicable Exchange Offer and Eligible Holders may not tender Existing Activision Blizzard Notes without also having been deemed to deliver a consent.

After almost two years, Microsoft has finally closed the $68.7 billion deal and acquired Activision Blizzard. Confirmed by Phil Spencer, head of gaming at Microsoft, the deal comes after the final approval from UK's Competition and Markets earlier today. The acquisition puts Activision Blizzard, developers Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, Toys for Bob, Beenox and High Moon Studios, as well as the mobile game maker King, which is known for its Candy Crush game, all under Xbox Game Studios.

In case you missed it, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard back in January 2022, after which it started its battle with various regulators, including UK's CMA, the European Commission, the US Federal Trade Commission, and others. In its extensive statement, Phil Spencer, head of gaming at Microsoft, once again confirmed that they will continue to make more games available in more places, as it promised to the European Commission, and they can now start the work to bring all those franchises to Game Pass and other platforms. Earlier this week, Activision Blizzard confirmed it expected to start adding titles to Game Pass in 2024, if the aforementioned deal goes through.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) rejected a previous draft of Microsoft's proposed deal to merge with Activision Blizzard (to the tune of $69 billion). The expected summer completion date was missed due to this sole case of opposition—all of the other international regulatory bodies had approved a conglomeration of Xbox and Activision portfolios. Ubisoft later emerged as an unlikely knight in shining armor, since the UK CMA has provisionally approved freshly revamped conditions—it turns out that Microsoft had agreed to sell its cloud streaming rights to the French video game publisher. The Financial Times sat down with one of the company's co-founders—CEO Yves Guillemot—and discussed how cloud gaming will revolutionize the industry.

Guillemot was not asked to comment on how much his firm has agreed to spend—allegedly a one-off fee—on purchasing Activision Blizzard's cloud streaming rights (from Microsoft). He did discuss the inherent risk of embracing a relatively immature market technology: "When Netflix first said it was going to go into streaming, their shares fell a lot and they were widely criticized. Today, we see what they have become. It's going to be the same with video games, but it will take time. But when it takes off, it will happen very quickly...We strongly believe in the next five to 10 years, many games will be streamed and will also be produced in the cloud. That's what pushed us to go forward with the Microsoft deal." This looks to be an unusual move for Ubisoft, considering the rumors of a recent strategy shift in reaction to downturns in sales.

We break down the recently revealed Campaign footage from Operation 627. Also, details on this year's Call of Duty Next on October 5, and the MW III Multiplayer Beta. Developed by Sledgehammer Games in partnership with Infinity Ward, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Campaign is the direct sequel to the events of Modern Warfare II.

As mentioned in the full game's Announcement, this Campaign features a seamless integration of missions built around Call of Duty's signature, cinematic moments that have defined two decades of the franchise's action-packed, narrative-driven, single-player experiences, and brand-new Open Combat Missions designed to give the player freedom to approach the action in a variety of different ways. The full Campaign, of course, is available up to one week prior to the game's official launch on November 10, and is available through Campaign Early Access, included in all digital pre-order editions of Modern Warfare III. One week based on estimated access; actual play time subject to possible outages and applicable time zone differences.

For the first time in back-to-back years, Call of Duty returns with a direct sequel as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III picks up immediately following the events of last year's incredible blockbuster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. This all-new experience is scheduled to be released worldwide on Friday, November 10th allowing players for the first time to continue their journey, progression, and story seamlessly for a new year to come.

Get ready for an all-new Campaign that continues the story immediately following the events of Modern Warfare II. Lead developer Sledgehammer Games, in partnership with Infinity Ward is set to deliver a full Campaign of action-packed operations ranging from signature, cinematic experiences to free-form Open Combat Missions, resulting in more player choice than ever before.

Activision and Sledgehammer Games revealed a bit more details about the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, including the new Makarov Reveal trailer, and an announcement that most of content collected in Modern Warfare II will be transferable to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III when it launches on November 10. Activision is also promising a big reveal scheduled for August 10.

Activision released a big post titled "carry forward" about what content will be transferable. In short, the list includes weapons and cosmetic content, including Bundles, Operators, and other rewards and unlocks from the game. The Wartracks from Modern Warfare 2 are not on the list. The latest teaser trailer confirms the return of Vladimir Makarov as the villain of the game.

Activision has confirmed previous rumors and leaks by officially announcing its next Call of Duty game as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The next Call of Duty will launch on November 10th. The latest teaser trailer was released by Sledgehammer Games, the developer behind Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Call of Duty: WWII, and while it does not show a lot, it does show some familiar faces from the previous Call of Duty titles.

The announcement confirms previous rumors that showed up back in May, which speculated that the game would be called Modern Warfare 3 and be a proper sequel, with a full campaign, multiplayer, and zombies mode.

Activision is reportedly putting Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 through its paces as an alpha test, and is struggling with the containment of leaks. DCMA takedowns have done little to stop the flow, and the publisher has started teasing the much anticipated 2023 CoD release. Licensing partners seem to be taking a lax attitude with regards to NDAs—new Monster Energy promotional material has been photographed in the wild. Revised energy drink brand packaging features a prominent series character—Captain Price—with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III logo emblazoned atop the famous protagonist.

Monster Energy has a documented history of offering XP and accessory codes as part of video game tie-in offers, so that legacy is all but confirmed for continuation with this year's alleged mainline CoD entry. Sledgehammer Games is reportedly the main development house working on CoD:MWIII, and various news outlets have claimed that a November launch window is being targeted by the game's publisher. Activision has taken a good humored approach when dealing with the latest leak—their @CallofDuty social media account's response stated: "Whew. Mondays. Anyone have an energy drink they can spare?"

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have announced the postponement of their agreed merger deadline—from July 18 (yesterday) to mid-October. This will grant them more time to deal with a sticky issue presented by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority blocking of the proposed $75 billion acquisition—on the grounds of potential deleterious effects within the cloud gaming market. Xbox boss, Phil Spencer made a short statement on the matter earlier today: "Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have extended the merger agreement deadline to 10/18. We're optimistic about getting this done, and excited about bringing more games to more players everywhere."

Lulu Cheng Meservey, CCO and EVP Corporate Affairs at Activision Blizzard, stated: "The recent decision in the U.S. and approvals in 40 countries all validate that the deal is good for competition, players, and the future of gaming. Given global regulatory approvals and the companies' confidence that CMA now recognizes there are remedies available to meet their concerns in the UK, the Activision Blizzard and Microsoft boards of directors have authorized the companies not to terminate the deal until after October 18. We're confident in our next steps and that our deal will quickly close."

A flurry of DMCA take down notices, on Activision's part, have brought even more attention to an alleged Call of Duty internal alpha test. Leakers have been talking about Modern Warfare III being the likely candidate for a new CoD release this year, following a planned premium expansion for MW II morphing into a full-fledged sequel. Activision has been busy scrubbing the internet clean of screenshots sourced from the alleged "Hailström" test build, but issued copyright strike messages contain references to the next entry in the series. Targeted tipsters have been warned about activity that has resulted in: "leaked content from unreleased video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" appearing on social media and other gaming community hubs.

The publisher has semi-acknowledged that the cat is out of the bag, and yesterday addressed the fan base with a simple query: "Let's get this out of the way...Should MW II Operators, Weapons and Bundles carry forward into Call of Duty 2023?" This official tweet was shared by the Sledgehammer Games account—this Activision-owned studio is rumored to be the primary development house working on Modern Warfare III, with other Call of Duty-oriented outfits providing additional support. Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021) was Sledgehammer's third fully developed entry in the blockbuster (and highly contested) series.

Nasdaq, the American stock exchange, has revealed that an unnamed company will be replacing Activision Blizzard within its top 100 index. The timing of this development is raising some eyebrows—it is set to occur mere days after the announcement of Microsoft's victory over the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The giant American technology corporation is closing in on its proposed acquisition of a games publishing group comprised of Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, and King Digital Entertainment.

Prior to the market opening next week (Monday 17th July) Activision Blizzard will be removed from the Nasdaq-100 ESG Index, although the company will remain tradable. An upcoming exit from the US stock exchange could signal that Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have become increasingly confident about the finalization of their merger before a July 18 deadline. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is reported to be engaging in discussions with involved parties, and has paused its legal proceedings. The FTC yesterday filed for an appeal against the California court's verdict, thus immediately annoying the top brass at Microsoft/Xbox—president Brad Smith commented on the situation: "The District Court's ruling makes crystal clear that this acquisition is good for both competition and consumers...We're disappointed that the FTC is continuing to pursue what has become a demonstrably weak case, and we will oppose further efforts to delay the ability to move forward."