Microsoft’s takeover of Activision is imminent: the British are no longer holding it back

Officially, Microsoft has until October 18 to complete its Activision-Blizzard acquisition, which began in January 2022. But October 13 is undoubtedly the day when everything moves.

CMA (English Competition Authority) Announces Dropping Its Lawsuit Against Microsoft, which promised to transfer a portion of Activision-Blizzard’s rights to Ubisoft if they merged. The horizon is clear, Microsoft has to avoid a turning point and become a franchisee Call of duty And Diablo during the day.

Why did the British ban Microsoft?

When Microsoft announced its intention to buy Activision-Blizzard in January 2022, it set a July 18, 2023 deadline for the acquisition. Meanwhile, Microsoft went through all the stages. It looked like the acquisition would fail for a long time as authorities around the world attacked it, and then Microsoft managed to turn the tables by getting approval from the US and the EU, and then even Sony/PlayStation, which he signed up for. Agreement.

All that remained were the British, who, to everyone’s surprise, decided to retain their veto. Microsoft decided to offer a new version of its deal, selling Activision’s cloud-gaming catalog to Ubisoft, to convince the United Kingdom (in the process postponing its deadline by 3 months). After much deliberation the British said yes.

“The restructured agreement largely addresses concerns raised by the CMA following its initial investigation which concluded earlier this year” CMA elaborates in its press release.

What is the next step? If all goes well, the legal soap opera should soon be replaced by a schedule of changes (arrival of games on Game Pass, future exclusives, etc.). An announcement about the acquisition is expected in the coming hours, hoping another authority doesn’t decide to derail everything again.

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