Activision Blizzard has announced this morning that it has cleared a number of regulatory hurdles to complete its acquisition of Candy Crush maker King. The purchase leaves the company behind Call of Duty and Starcraft as the self-professed largest game network in the world with more than 500 million users.

The acquisition was announced in November, with the price tag set at $5.9 billion. The result of the deal sees Activision Blizzard sales projected to jump from $1.575 billion in 2015 to $6.25 billion in 2016.

Operating income came in at $438 million for the 2015 fiscal year. That is likely to be more than $2 billion in 2016.

The King purchase was one of three big moves Activision made in recent months. The company also announced it has opened a movie and television division with a Skylander cartoon and Call of Duty films in the works. Additionally, Activision Blizzard purchased Major League Gaming at the start of 2016 to make a push into eSports.

Our Take

Activision’s 2015 was about diversification and a “buy-not-build” mentality that will accelerate the company’s growth in mobile and competitive gaming. How this all shakes out depends on how the company continues to leverage its strong brands, like Call of Duty, Starcraft II, and Heroes of the Storm while cultivating its new user base in the mobile and social arena.