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The FTC is reviewing Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal

By DeAngelo Epps February 1, 2022

Microsoft’s plan to acquire Activision Blizzard may be hitting a roadblock soon. According to a report from Bloomberg, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will review this landmark games’ industry deal.

This $68.7 billion acquisition of the now controversial makers of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and more has resulted in many questions being asked by fans of the gaming industry. One of the biggest of those inquiries is whether or not it’s even legal under monopolistic and anti-trust laws. That question will be answered by the FTC before Microsoft’s deal clears by the end of fiscal Q4 2023.

Heading the FTC in this ruling is Linda Khan, who is reportedly very opposed to potential monopolies. She, partnered with the FTC and Justice Department wanting to be harder on big tech, even when it’s “flexing some big muscle,” is a great potential hurdle for Microsoft and its plan to own so many pieces of the AAA western gaming market.

This isn’t the first, nor last big acquisition conducted by Microsoft or any other large body in gaming. Last year Microsoft made a similar move with its purchase of games developer Bethesda for $7.5 billion. Even more recently, Sony fired shots back at Microsoft’s acquisition spree by moving to purchase the creators of the iconic Halo franchise, Bungie, for $3.6 billion, kicking off what some are calling the “Purchase Wars.”

While there are many factors pointing towards whether Microsoft’s deal will go through, no one will know for sure for quite some time until the FTC reports finally come into play.

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De'Angelo Epps is a gaming writer passionate about the culture, communities, and industry surrounding gaming. His work ranges…

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Microsoft has acquired Activision Blizzard: What does that mean for you?

The key art from when Microsoft finally acquired Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard. After Microsoft worked to appease regulators and fend off litigation, the $69 billion acquisition first announced in January 2022 is finally complete. Now that Activision Blizzard is officially part of Microsoft and a sister company to Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media, that raises an important question: What does this acquisition mean for you as a player?

Following this acquisition, Microsoft will own more gaming studios, the availability of Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard franchises will shift, and unionization efforts within Activision Blizzard could gain a bit more ground. If you're wondering what happens next, here's our thorough examination of how the deal could impact players moving forward.
Microsoft's new game studios
With this acquisition, Microsoft will now own all the developers under the Activision Blizzard company. That includes the teams at Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, and King, the latter of which is the developer behind the wildly popular mobile series Candy Crush. The acquisition encompasses the following subsidiaries as well: Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, High Moon Studios, Beenox, Toys for Bob, Activision Shanghai Studio, Solid State Studios, Demonware, Digital Legends, and Major League Gaming. Microsoft now also owns the rights to all of the games and IP Activision Blizzard previously released.

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Microsoft finally closes its $69B Activision Blizzard acquisition

Xbox acquired Activision Blizzard on January 18, 2022, and gained the rights to Call of Duty, Candy Crush, and more.

It's done: Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The $69 billion deal means that some of gaming's biggest franchises, including Call of Duty, are now Xbox properties.

First announced in January 2022, the blockbuster deal has faced tons of scrutiny from regulators like the CMA and FTC, with there being worry that it'd be unfair to competition in various parts of the game industry. Ultimately, Microsoft proved that wasn't the case, defeating the FTC in court and finally getting the CMA to retract its objection to the deal earlier today. When the CMA did that, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told Digital Trends "The CMA’s official approval is great news for our future with Microsoft, and we look forward to becoming part of the Xbox Team.”

Gaming

Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition is about to clear its final hurdle

microsoft activision blizzard acquisition uk preliminary approval mwiii reveal full 006

Microsoft has had a tough time getting its acquisition of Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard approved, but it just cleared a major hurdle. The U.K.'s CMA, which previously blocked the acquisition over concerns about its impact on the cloud gaming market, says that it has "provisionally concluded" that Microsoft has addressed its biggest issues with the acquisition.

Namely, it likes that Microsoft will give the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft. "The prior sale of the cloud gaming rights will establish Ubisoft as a key supplier of content to cloud gaming services, replicating the role that Activision would have played in the market as an independent player," the CMA explained in a press release. "In contrast to the original deal, Microsoft will no longer control cloud gaming rights for Activision’s content, so would not be in a position to limit access to Activision’s key content to its own cloud gaming service or to withhold those games from rivals."
Its press release also reveals that Ubisoft will have the ability to make "Microsoft to port Activision games to operating systems other than Windows and support game emulators when requested." Essentially, it's pleased that Microsoft no longer has an iron grip on Activision Blizzard games outside of the Xbox ecosystem and is closer to supporting the deal because of it. Of course, both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are pretty happy about this.
"We are encouraged by this positive development in the CMA’s review process," Microsoft president Brad Smith tweeted. "We presented solutions that we believe fully address the CMA’s remaining concerns related to cloud game streaming, and we will continue to work toward earning approval to close prior to the October 18 deadline."
Meanwhile, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson provided Digital Trends with the following statement: "The CMA’s preliminary approval is great news for our future with Microsoft. We’re pleased the CMA has responded positively to the solutions Microsoft has proposed, and we look forward to working with Microsoft toward completing the regulatory review process."
A final decision from the CMA is expected to be made by October 6. As Smith mentioned, Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is expected to close by October 18.