Report: Microsoft to finalize Activision Blizzard purchase next week
Microsoft’s mega-deal is inching closer to the finish line.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
What you need to know
The mega-deal that has dominated the news cycle is almost over.
While everyone is eyeing sometime in the next week for Microsoft to at long last finish its $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, a new report fromThe Vergeclaims Microsoft expects to close the deal on October 13, just a few days after final approval from the CMA is expected to arrive.
The deal currently has a deadline of Oct. 18, 2023, after which if it is not finalized and either party walks away, Microsoft is required to pay a hefty $4.5 billion breakup fee to Activision Blizzard.
The CMA hasalready granted the deal preliminary approval, with the regulatory body’s concerns over the future of Cloud gaming mostly assuaged by Microsoft agreeing to sell of Activision Cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft, the publisher of titles like theAssassin’s Creedseries.
-Phil Spencer on Jim Ryan leaving PlayStation-Microsoft once tried buying Zynga-Workers say Microsoft must commit to unions at Xbox
This comes after the CMA previously blocked the deal over those same Cloud gaming concerns before reopening negotiations with Microsoft later on. Meanwhile, the FTC in the U.S. attempted to stall the deal in a court hearing. The ensuingMicrosoft vs. FTChearing saw the FTC’s attempts fail, and while the regulator is continuing to attempt to block the deal, its options are limited and the next hearing is scheduled for December, well after the purchase should be finalized.
Other regulators such asJapanand Brazil have already approved the deal, while theEU granted approvalafter getting Microsoft to agree to provide Cloud gaming licenses to other companies, including rival NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW streaming service.
Analysis: Stay on target
We keep getting closer, bit by bit, to seeing this thing through. It’s almost done, and there’s no reason to doubt The Verge’s report. I’m eager to see new games added toXbox Game Pass, but I’m more eager to see Activision Blizzard employees allowed to unionize a couple of months after the deal finishes, in line with Microsoft’s neutrality agreement.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter@SamuelTolbert.
