Activision Blizzard Buys Candy Crush Maker King Digital For $5.9B | Crunch

TL;DR

Activision Blizzard buys King.com, the company behind Candy Crush, solidifying its position as the largest standalone company in interactive entertainment.

Transcript

Activision Blizzard buys the company that makes Candy Crush for a lot of billions, the Plex app comes to the Apple TV, Pandora's getting Serial podcast Season 2, and more, from TechCrunch Beijing! It's Tuesday November 3rd and this is Crunch Report. Gaming company Activision Blizzard is acquiring King.com, which makes the game Candy Crush, which yo... Read More

Key Insights

• 🧘 Activision Blizzard's acquisition of King.com positions it as the largest standalone company in interactive entertainment, with a global network of over half a billion monthly active users.
• 😚 Google's denial of rumors about phasing out Chrome OS reinforces the company's commitment to both Chrome OS and Android.
• 😀 Plex's new app for the Apple TV provides a more seamless streaming experience for users, eliminating the need for airplay.
• 🚋 Google's self-driving cars learned to recognize children's behavior through a Halloween exercise, highlighting the complexity of training autonomous vehicles.

Questions & Answers

Q: How many monthly active users did Candy Crush have in the third quarter?

Candy Crush had 474 million monthly active users in the third quarter, making it a highly popular game.

Q: Is Chrome OS being phased out?

Google denies rumors about phasing out Chrome OS, stating that they have been working on ways to bring the best of both operating systems together.

Q: What is the new feature of Plex for Apple TV users?

Plex has released a new app for Apple TV, allowing users to stream high-quality content directly to their TV without the need for airplay.

Q: How did Google's self-driving cars learn to recognize children's behavior?

Google had children in costumes hang around their parked self-driving cars during Halloween to help train the cars' sensors to recognize children in various shapes and sizes, even in costumes.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Activision Blizzard is acquiring King.com, the company behind the popular game Candy Crush, which had 474 million monthly active users in the third quarter.

• Google denies rumors about Chrome OS being folded into Android, stating that there is no plan to phase out Chrome OS.

• Plex releases a new app for the Apple TV, allowing users to stream high-quality content from a server on a PC directly to their TV.

• Google's self-driving cars learned to recognize children's movements and behavior on Halloween, helping enhance their ability to drive more carefully around kids.

• Pandora becomes the exclusive streaming partner for the second season of the popular podcast "Serial," aiming to tap into its large user base and expand the podcast's audience.