Microsoft may not get to close its Activision deal as soon as we expected. In case you need a refresher, Microsoft announced in 2022 that it had plans to purchase Call of Duty publisher Activision for $70 billion. It would make it the biggest acquisition in the history of gaming both from a financial perspective, but also in terms of what was actually being purchased. Xbox would take control of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot, and mobile publisher King which makes games like Candy Crush. It was huge and it caused a lot of concern with regulators, leading to the FTC to file a lawsuit to try and block the deal. Just last week, the FTC lost its case as well as had its attempt to appeal denied.
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It was the biggest hurdle Microsoft had to overcome to get the deal through, but there is still one last obstacle: the UK’s CMA. The CMA has its own concerns with regards to cloud gaming and that could prevent Microsoft from closing the Activision deal, which it has to do by July 18th or face the opportunity that either company in the merger agreement could walk away from the deal and trigger a $3 billion breakup fee. However, because Microsoft just has to clear this last hurdle and is supposedly considering making some compromises such as selling off its cloud gaming rights in the UK to another company, there may be a possible saving grace here. As reported by the Financial Times (via Tom Warren), the two companies may agree to a merger extension, even if not through a formal agreement, to see out the negotiations with the CMA.
With that said, we may not see Microsoft close the deal this coming week. It may be later in July or sometime in August, but at the very least, so long as things get settled with the CMA, it could get approved in the semi-near future. Only time will tell what comes of it, but hopefully, this won’t drag on much longer and we can get some definitive answers.
What do you think of the Microsoft/Activision deal? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
