How Much is Candy Crush Worth? US$5.9 Billion, Apparently

Yes, game publisher Activision has splashed out billions to buy over the company that developed Candy Crush.

Mark Zuckerberg may have talked about wanting to fix the Candy Crush Saga notifications bug, but King Digital Entertainment, the developer of the addictive game, has got bigger fish to fry.

Activision, a game publisher responsible for titles such as Call of Duty and StarCraft, has just bought over King Digital Entertainment for US$5.9 billion. This acquisition overshadows many others, such as Disney’s purchase of the Star Wars franchise for US$4 billion, and Facebook’s takeover of Oculus Rift for US$2 billion.

The move puts Activision in pole position to dominate the mobile games market – for as long as Candy Crush Saga remains popular. We’ve seen games like Angry Birds enjoy tremendous success before fizzling out, though Candy Crush has managed to maintain its profit stream after it launched three years ago.

Money aside, perhaps what Activision wants to tap on is the pool of 474 million monthly active Candy Crush Saga players, a large number that the publisher would have access to. This also adds mobile gaming to a portfolio that was traditionally focused on console and PC games.

Will Candy Crush Saga float or flounder under Activision? Let us know in Comments below.