King (company)

King.com Limited is a Swedish video game developer and publisher that specialises in social games. Since 2016, it is one of 3 publishing businesses of Activision Blizzard. Headquartered in Stockholm and London, and incorporated in St. Julian's, Malta, King rose to prominence after releasing the cross-platform title Candy Crush Saga in 2012. It is considered as one of the most financially successful games utilising the freemium model. King was acquired by Activision Blizzard in February 2016 for US$5.9 billion, and operates as its own entity within that company. King is led by Todd Green, who holds the position of President. Gerhard Florin took over Melvyn Morris's role as chairman in November 2014. As of 2017, King employs 2,000 people. In October 2023, Microsoft acquired parent company Activision Blizzard, maintaining that the company will continue to operate as a separate business. While part of the larger Xbox division, King retains its function as the publisher of games developed internally.