Description of Business and Basis of Consolidation and Presentation	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2023
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Description of Business and Basis of Consolidation and Presentation	1. Description of Business and Basis of Consolidation and Presentation Activision Blizzard, Inc. is a leading global developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content and services. We develop and distribute content and services on video game consoles, personal computers (“PCs”), and mobile devices. We also operate esports leagues and offer digital advertising within some of our content. The terms “Activision Blizzard,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” are used to refer collectively to Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Merger Agreement On January 18, 2022, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as may be amended, supplemented, or otherwise modified from time to time, the “Merger Agreement”) with Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”) and Anchorage Merger Sub Inc. (“Merger Sub”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, Microsoft agreed to acquire the Company for $95.00 per issued and outstanding share of our common stock, par value $0.000001 per share, in an all-cash transaction. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, our acquisition will be accomplished through the merger of Merger Sub with and into the Company (the “Merger”), with the Company surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. As a result of the Merger, we will cease to be a publicly traded company. We have agreed to various customary covenants and agreements, including, among others, agreements to conduct our business in the ordinary course during the period between the execution of the Merger Agreement and the effective time of the Merger. We do not believe these restrictions will prevent us from meeting our debt service obligations, ongoing costs of operations, working capital needs or capital expenditure requirements. On July 18, 2023, the Company, Microsoft, and Merger Sub entered into a letter agreement to the Merger Agreement (the “Letter Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, each of Microsoft and the Company waived any right to terminate the Merger Agreement other than (i) pursuant to mutual agreement or (ii) if the Merger has not been consummated prior to 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on October 18, 2023. Microsoft will be required to pay us a reverse termination fee (the “Parent Termination Fee”) under certain specified circumstances. Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, if payable under the Merger Agreement on or prior to August 29, 2023, the Parent Termination Fee will be $3.0 billion, increasing to $3.5 billion if payable after August 29, 2023, and increasing to $4.5 billion if payable after September 15, 2023. Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, Microsoft and Merger Sub waived any right to not pay the first $3.0 billion of the Parent Termination Fee, if otherwise payable pursuant to the Merger Agreement (which amount shall be payable regardless of any breach of the Merger Agreement by the Company). Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, Microsoft and Merger Sub also waived any right to not pay any portion of the Parent Termination Fee in excess of $3.0 billion, to the extent otherwise payable pursuant to the Merger Agreement: •as a result of a breach by the Company of any representation, warranty or covenant in the Merger Agreement, whether before or after the date of the Letter Agreement, other than the willful breach by the Company of a covenant required to be performed after the date of the Letter Agreement by it that is the proximate cause of the failure of the conditions to Closing (as defined in the Merger Agreement) with respect to the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period pursuant to, or obtaining all requisite clearances, consents and approvals pursuant to, the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, and the antitrust and foreign investment laws of certain specified countries, without the imposition of a Burdensome Condition (as defined in the Merger Agreement); or •in the event that Microsoft or any of its subsidiaries materially breaches the Merger Agreement after the date of the Letter Agreement. In addition, pursuant to the Letter Agreement, among other things: •the Company is permitted to declare and pay one regular cash dividend for fiscal year 2023 in an amount per share not in excess of $0.99, prior to and not contingent on the Closing; and •in circumstances in which the Parent Termination Fee is payable pursuant to the Merger Agreement, effective from and after October 18, 2023, Microsoft and its Affiliates (as defined in the Merger Agreement) shall pay to the Company 100% of all proceeds or other payments for games of the Company, and the Company shall be entitled to offset any payments owed to the gaming business of Microsoft or its Affiliates pursuant to the existing agreements between the Company and Microsoft or their respective Affiliates, on a combined basis, in an amount up to $250 million for each of the 12-month periods ending December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2024. For additional information related to the Merger Agreement, please refer to Part I Item 1 “Business” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, our C urrent Report on Form 8-K filed on July 19, 2023 regarding the Letter Agreement, and other relevant materials in connection with the proposed transaction with Microsoft that we will file with the SEC and that will contain important information about the Company and the Merger. On December 8, 2022, the United States Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) issued an administrative complaint against the Company and Microsoft alleging that the Company and Microsoft executed the Merger Agreement in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 45, which, if consummated, would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 18, and Section 5 of the FTC Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 45. The administrative trial was scheduled to take place before an FTC administrative law judge starting August 2, 2023, but the case was removed from adjudication by the FTC on July 20, 2023, and the hearing has been stayed until further notice. On June 12, 2023, the FTC filed an action captioned Federal Trade Commission v. Microsoft, et al., Case No. 3:23-cv-02880-JSC (N.D. Cal.), in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking an emergency temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction that would prohibit the Company and Microsoft from closing the Merger. On July 10, 2023, the district court denied the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction. On July 13, 2023, the FTC filed motions with the district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit seeking a temporary injunction pending appeal of the district court’s ruling. The district court denied the motion on July 13, 2023, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied the motion on July 14, 2023. The emergency temporary restraining order that had been issued by the district court expired on July 14, 2023. The FTC’s appeal of the district court’s denial of the preliminary injunction is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. For more information regarding the FTC complaint regarding the pending Merger, see Note 14 to these condensed consolidated financial statements. On April 26, 2023, the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA”) announced a decision to block the Merger, stating that competition concerns arose in relation to cloud gaming and that Microsoft’s remedies addressing any concerns in cloud gaming were not sufficient. Microsoft is appealing the CMA’s ruling, and the Company has intervened in support. On July 11, 2023, the CMA announced that it had agreed with Microsoft and the Company to jointly seek a stay of the appeal from the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “CAT”) in order to pursue a potential resolution to the CMA’s previously stated competition concerns. On July 21, 2023, the CAT formally approved the adjournment request. For more information regarding the CMA ruling regarding the pending Merger, see Note 14 to these condensed consolidated financial statements. Our Segments Based upon our organizational structure, we conduct our business through three reportable segments, each of which is a leading global developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content and services based primarily on our internally-developed intellectual properties. (i) Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision Publishing, Inc. (“Activision”) delivers content through both premium and free-to-play offerings and primarily generates revenue from full-game and in-game sales, as well as by licensing software to third-party or related-party companies that distribute Activision products. Activision’s key product offerings include titles and content for Call of Duty®, a first-person action franchise. Activision also includes the activities of the Call of Duty League™, a global professional esports league. (ii) Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (“Blizzard”) delivers content through both premium and free-to-play offerings and primarily generates revenue from full-game and in-game sales, subscriptions, and by licensing software to third-party or related-party companies that distribute Blizzard products. Blizzard also maintains a proprietary online gaming platform, Battle.net®, which facilitates digital distribution of Blizzard content and selected Activision content, online social connectivity, and the creation of user-generated content. Blizzard’s key product offerings include titles and content for: the Warcraft® franchise, which includes World of Warcraft®, a subscription-based massive multi-player online role-playing game, and Hearthstone®, an online collectible card game based in the Warcraft universe; Diablo® in the action role-playing genre; and Overwatch® in the team-based first-person action genre. Blizzard also includes the activities of the Overwatch League™, a global professional esports league. (iii) King Digital Entertainment King Digital Entertainment (“King”) delivers content through free-to-play offerings and primarily generates revenue from in-game sales and in-game advertising on mobile platforms. King’s key product offerings include titles and content for Candy Crush™, a “match three” franchise. Other We also engage in other businesses that do not represent reportable segments, including our Activision Blizzard Distribution (“Distribution”) business, which consists of operations in Europe that provide warehousing, logistics, and sales distribution services to third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software, our own publishing operations, and manufacturers of interactive entertainment hardware. Basis of Consolidation and Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC and accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim reporting. Accordingly, certain notes or other information that are normally required by U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted if they substantially duplicate the disclosures contained in our annual audited consolidated financial statements. Additionally, the year-end condensed consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. The preparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for the fair statement of our financial position and results of operations in accordance with U.S. GAAP (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) have been included in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. Actual results could differ from these estimates and assumptions. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts and operations of the Company. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Certain amounts in the prior year condensed consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.