Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard may end up being successful after all, according to the latest updates on the deal. Though the American Federal Trade Commission has been trying to grind progress on the acquisition to a halt for over a year now, things are looking up for the deal at last, with the affected companies now apparently set for closure.
Sony finally signed aCall of Dutydealwith Microsoft after a lengthy period of legal exchanges on the matter, and it seems that, barring the UK’s CMA opposition, all the major legal and commercial hurdles have been cleared for the deal to go through. Unless something major comes up in very short order, it seems incredibly likely that Microsoft will be the new owner of Activision Blizzard, giving Xbox a huge boon in IPs.
RELATED:Xbox Gamers Hope Activision Acquisition Will See Return of Underrated Xbox 360 Shooter
According to the contract,Microsoftand Activision Blizzard must close the deal by Tuesday, July 18. If the deal is not completed by that date, even if due to third-party antitrust concerns, Microsoft will be required to pay Activision Blizzard a $3 billion fee, unless both parties agree to extend the deadline. This means that the deal is now on fast track to completion if all goes well. While the acquisition isn’t yet absolutely certain to close, the good news for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard is that a federal judge recently prevented the FTC from blocking the deal. Now that Sony is somewhat on board with the acquisition, too, it seems like most major detractors have grown more agreeable with the idea of Microsoft owning Activision Blizzard.
It’s no secret that Sony’s biggest concern about the acquisition was theCall of Dutyfranchise and whether Microsoft would continue bankrolling its development for PlayStation consoles. However,Sony’s decade-longCall of Dutydealguarantees that the franchise will stick around on PS for some time to come, as Xbox and Microsoft have been promising all along. It makes sense for Microsoft to keepCODgoing on PlayStation, too, as the platform is a huge source of revenue for Activision.
In fact, Microsoft seems to be interested in gettingCall of Dutyonto as many gaming platforms as possible. The company recently proclaimed thattakingCall of Dutyoff Steam was a mistakeby Activision Blizzard, suggesting that it is highly unlikely the franchise will end up being locked into a single gaming ecosystem anytime soon.
The hubbub surrounding Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard has prompted a bit of a renewal of theage-old console wars, where gamers with a vested interest in just one gaming platform cannot agree on which one is best. With a publisher as big as Activision Blizzard under Microsoft’s control, the next battle in this ongoing “war” is going to be very interesting indeed.
