Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition could be approved in US by next month
The gaming industry was taken by storm when Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision, and now new details reveal that the deal could be done sooner than many thought.
Activision has a lot on its plate with Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2. Call of Duty fans are more excited than ever for these new installments, and while development continues, one of the biggest acquisitions in gaming history plays on in the background.
New details have been shared regarding Microsoft’s purchase of Activision, implying that the deal could be completed in the next month.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has now received the information Microsoft needed to provide to complete the deal for Activision.
The FTC told Microsoft and Activision that additional information was required in order to complete the deal back in March, and it seems this request has now been fulfilled according to news provider Seeking Alpha.
This now means that the $69 billion deal could be completed very soon, as the FTC will have 30 days to challenge the purchase, and if they decided not to, the acquisition will continue.
Having said that, for the countdown to begin both Microsoft and Activision have to have provided the wanted information, and as far as we know, Activision may still have to do so.
However, once all of this required information has been handed to the FTC, a 30-day countdown will begin, during which the FTC will be able to allow the deal to commence unchallenged, challenge the deal, or negotiate with the involved parties and establish some rules to keep the market healthy.
The CMA, which is the UK’s equivalent to the FTC, are also investigating the purchase, so they will also need to approve before the acquisition can move forward. The deadline for the CMA is September 1, so fans will know by this date whether the deal will be going through or not.
If all goes to plan for Microsoft, we could see the acquisition completed within the next 30 days, even before the release of Modern Warfare 2.
Luckily, CoD fans on other platforms will not need to worry, as Microsoft have already confirmed that they will continue to support Call of Duty fans on all platforms and respect the ongoing Call of Duty exclusivity deal PlayStation has with Activision.
PlayStation also have an interesting acquisition of their own involving Bungie, who are also working on a new Destiny-inspired competitive FPS game.
Image Credits: Acftivision / Microsoft