Microsoft has agreed a deal to buy the troubled Call of Duty and Candy Crush gaming firm Activision Blizzard for $68.7bn (£50.5bn).

The all-cash takeover will give the Xbox maker a leap into the mobile gaming sphere and “play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” according to Microsoft boss Satya Nadella.

The deal – if approved by regulators – would make Microsoft the third-largest gaming firm in the world by revenue.