Microsoft has agreed to buy video game company Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.

The deal would be the BigTech firm’s largest acquisition ever.

The Santa Monica, California-based company is one of the largest video game companies in the world, and publishes the Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Candy Crush franchises.

The size of the buy-out exceeds Microsoft’s $26 billion takeover of LinkedIn in 2016 and the $67 billion Dell paid in 2015 to purchase storage giant EMC.

The BigTech giant is set to pay $95 per share if the deal is approved.

Microsoft said the deal will see it become the third largest video game company by revenue worldwide, after Sony and Chinese technology giant Tencent.

The current chief executive of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick is set to remain at the helm of its gaming business.

Microsoft has made other major video game-related acquisitions in recent years.

The BigTech first announced plans to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of game developer Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion in cash in September 2020.

“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive at Microsoft. “We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community, and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and make gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all.”

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