The planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft remains a stalemate because many antitrust authorities and competition watchdogs around the world have to agree. This will take some time, especially since the British authorities have now confirmed that the waiting time for their own report will be significantly longer.
Can Microsoft buy the big publisher Activision Blizzard in a multi-billion dollar deal and integrate it into Xbox Studios or not? The companies have long since clarified this question among themselves, but due to the extent of this, the approval of numerous competition watchdogs around the world is required – and that is by no means always easy for the parties involved.
The US authority recently filed a lawsuit against the deal and is trying to prevent it due to competition concerns – and serious concerns have also been expressed in England in the past. It remains to be seen how they will finally express themselves in concrete terms, but Microsoft will have to wait quite a while for the corresponding answer.
The British CMA has now announced that the decision has been made not to submit the report on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard by March 1, 2023 as planned. Instead, you want to take two months more time; the new deadline for the report is therefore April 26, 2023.
The chairman of the island’s competition authority, Martin Coleman, cites the reason for the delay that the deal is extremely complex and that it is therefore necessary to sift through and evaluate a huge amount of evidence. The arguments of the parties involved as well as those of third parties will be evaluated and incorporated into the decision-making process.
The British CMA launched the second phase of the investigation into the deal in September 2022 and subsequently raised concerns. Among other things, they showed understanding for Sony’s concern that competition in the gaming sector could be disrupted in the long term. As a result, Microsoft had pledged to continue to publish Call of Duty for the PlayStation for at least ten years.
To date, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and most recently Serbia, among others, have already agreed to the deal; nevertheless, this can only take place if 17 other antitrust authorities give the green light. The US FTC has already filed a lawsuit, the European competition authorities – like the British – are still investigating and want to announce their decision this year.
Insert Coin #678 with a review of 2022, an outlook on 2023 and our games of the year.
