Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will face a more challenging review process than initially expected as the Federal Trade Commission will be reviewing the deal, not the Justice Department as was expected. This news is according to a report by Bloomberg.
The deal, which is expected to close before Q4 of 2023, will see Microsoft take control of several major gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch to name a few. Despite this, Microsoft has stated they plan to continue releasing these titles across multiple platforms, in particular, the Sony PlayStation at least until current contractual agreements between Sony and Activision run out. Once these agreements do run dry, Xbox is in a position to cut off some of the biggest franchises in the world from other platforms.
While both the FTC and the Justice Department are involved in the reviews process of major corporate acquisitions it is usually expected that one company will take the lead. In this case, that will be the FTC, which is being headed by Lina Khan. Both bodies have promised they intend to be harsher on big tech moving forward, with Lina being particularly outspoken on the subject. On the bright side, should she pass the acquisition there will be little room for doubt regarding its legality.
Previously Microsoft closed a smaller deal, acquiring Zenimax and all its studios, including Bethesda, for nearly $7 billion. This process was begun under the previous administration of the FTC which was considered to be far more relaxed, concluding before Khan and her harsher stance had arrived. Another deal that is expected to be scrutinized is Sony’s announced acquisition of Bungie.
While these deals have been largely accepted in the Entertainment industry, see the acquisition of Time Warner by Discovery which is expected to close, Microsoft’s involvement in this, as well as terms like Metaverse being thrown around, are expected to make this a tech acquisition which will invite the more stringent stance.
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