Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion all-cash deal.
Not only could this boost Microsoft’s standing in the growing gaming industry, it’ll give the tech giant greater exposure to the metaverse.
“Acquiring Activision will help jump start MSFT’s broader gaming endeavors and ultimately its move into the metaverse with gaming the first monetization piece of the metaverse in our opinion,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said, as quoted by CNN.
Even more impressive, it’ll give Microsoft exposure to a potential multi-billion-dollar opportunity. According to analysts at Emergen Research, the metaverse market could be worth up to $828.95 billion by 2028. Even analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence say it could reach $800 billion by 2024.
With that news, investors may want to look at other gaming stocks that could offer exposure to the metaverse, too. Some of the top ones include:
Roblox Corp. (RBLX)
At the moment, Roblox is the closest thing to a mainstream social metaverse, with a mission of building a human co-experience platform that enables billions of users to come together to play, learn, communicate, explore and expand their friendships, according to Roblox.
Even better, RBLX growth has been impressive.
In its third quarter, the company said revenue increased 102% over Q3 2020 to $509.3 million, bookings increased 28% over Q3 2020 to $637.8 million, average Daily Active Users (DAUs) were 47.3 million, an increase of 31% year over year.
“Engagement is our north star. We’re very pleased that during the third quarter, people of all ages from across the globe chose to spend over 11 billion hours on Roblox,” said David Baszucki, CEO of Roblox. “We are happy to report that the developer community earned over $130 million in the quarter and is on pace to earn well over $500 million this year. As we finish 2021 and head into 2022, we will continue to invest in innovative technology to enable our developer community to do what they do best – build and create.”
Take Two Interactive (TTWO)
Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick once told CNBC, “We’re probably the biggest metaverse company on Earth.”
Even analysts at Jefferies Group once noted, “Take Two’s IP Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and NBA2K are already on the road toward a “Metaverse”. They lack a true economy and many of the attributes needed today to be a Metaverse, but they have high social engagement, brand crossovers, and the start of an economy that makes sense. Expanding into a bigger economy, cross branding, and expanding the roles/player base would both increase engagement & monetization, but also move it deeper into the Metaverse. NBA2K’s The City is even further along with many virtual stores of physical brands from Jordan, Nike, Reebok, Gatorade, and many others already in the game.”
Unity Software (U)
Unity Software is gaining momentum on the metaverse story, too.
As the story heats up, it could easily see higher highs.
Better, the company said it plans to “support and shape the metaverse” and “emphasize content creation, cross-platform access, and narrowing the distance and reducing the friction between creators and consumers,” as noted by US News & World Report.
Better, the company is quickly growing. For Q3 2021, the company said:
- Revenue was $286.3 million, an increase of 43% from the third quarter of 2020.
- Create Solutions and Operate Solutions revenue was $83.7 million and $185.0 million, respectively, an increase of 34% and 54%, respectively, from the third quarter of 2020. Strategic Partnerships and Other revenue was $17.6 million, a decrease of 3% from the third quarter of 2020.
- Loss from operations was $126.8 million, or 44% of revenue, compared to loss from operations of $141.7 million, or 71% of revenue, in the third quarter of 2020.
