Hearthstone: could cash prizes have a role in its future?

After the King purchase, could Activision be thinking of entering its hugely successful collectible card game into the 'skill-based gaming' sector?

On Monday, Activision announced a deal to acquire the smartphone and online gaming specialist King for $5.9bn, instigating one of the largest takeover bids in recent gaming history. The move was greeted with surprise by analysts who pointed to King's heavy reliance on a single title, Candy Crush Saga, which appears to be stagnating, as well as the company's declining revenues - a point underlined on Thursday when King announced its third-quarter earnings, down to $180m, compared with $216m a year ago.

Many compelling reasons for the bid were also put forward. Activision has very little presence in mobile or casual gaming, while King has a user base of 500 million; most of Activision's titles are aimed at the "core" gaming audience, while King brings a more diverse global audience; and King has Candy Crush Saga (which, at its peak, was generating a million dollars a day), as well as other reasonably successful titles.