When Microsoft buys other companies, it makes a big splash. 

This is because the company spends billions of dollars to enter completely new markets, block rivals, and change how millions of people use technology.

Using the timeline records from Microsoft Investor Relations, the visualization above maps every Microsoft acquisition from 2006 to August 2026. 

A key insight is that the tech giant completed more than 150 acquisitions over two decades, under two CEOs, and amid several major transformations of its core business. 

TL;DR

• Microsoft made more than 150 acquisitions between 2006 and 2026, with no single year recording zero deals except 2024.
• Activision Blizzard, acquired for approximately $68.7 billion, is the largest deal by far.
• 2015 and 2018 were the peak years for volume, with about 17 acquisitions each.

Microsoft acquisitions list 2006 to 2026

Note: Entries marked with an asterisk (*) appear to indicate deals that were announced but may have specific status qualifications. 

The one exception is 2024.

The record shows no formal acquisition completed that year, the only full-year gap in the entire record.

The Inflection AI arrangement, widely discussed in 2024, was structured as hiring the core team and licensing IP assets rather than a standard acquisition.

The Deal That Changed The Scale Of Everything

Activision Blizzard stands apart from the rest of the record.

Microsoft announced the acquisition in January 2022 and completed it in October 2023 after a multi-year regulatory battle involving the US Federal Trade Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.

The price was approximately $68.7 billion. It’s the largest acquisition in gaming history and the largest in Microsoft’s history. 

Gaming Studio Strategy, Written In Acquisitions

Between 2018 and 2022, Microsoft assembled a first-party gaming studio roster through two distinct waves.

The first wave  (Obsidian Entertainment, InXile Entertainment, Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Undead Labs, and Compulsion Games, all acquired in 2018-2019) built Xbox Game Studios from a handful of teams into a competitive portfolio.

The second wave (ZeniMax Media/Bethesda (2020) and Activision Blizzard (2022)) added the publishers behind Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Call of Duty, and World of Warcraft.

The strategy moved from buying individual studios to buying the companies that owned entire franchise catalogs.

There’s Now a Slowdown… 

After closing the largest deal in gaming history, Microsoft’s acquisition pace dropped sharply.

The record shows  Pi Labs as the sole acquisition in 2025. It’s the lowest volume since 2010.

In 2026 (as of this report), Fintool and Osmos are the only confirmed deals so far. 

Both are AI plays: Fintool is an AI copilot for equity research, and Osmos is a data integration platform.

The post-gaming pivot toward AI-native financial and enterprise data tools is the most current strategic signal.

ELI5

Microsoft has bought other companies almost every year since 2006, with over 150 deals in total.

The biggest by far was Activision Blizzard for about $68.7 billion, more than all its other major acquisitions combined.

After that huge deal, Microsoft slowed down significantly, making just one acquisition in 2025.

The buying pattern shows exactly how Microsoft turned itself from a software company into a giant in cloud, gaming, and AI.

Source:

Microsoft Investor Relations (2026)