Microsoft’s Acquisition Deal With Activision Could Get Delayed

Microsoft may have won, but it must wait a bit more to celebrate it.

The Verge's Tom Warren recently stated that Microsoft and Activision wouldn't close the acquisition deal between them to wait for the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to give them the green light.

The CMA previously announced it is giving itself six weeks to review the new arguments Microsoft made for it to give Microsoft the go-ahead it needs to close the deal.

Microsoft's Win

Microsoft has won over almost every regulator the world has to offer. While the FTC still wants to block its acquisition deal with Activision, the court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals prevented the US regulator from doing so.

You may remember that Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop the deal between Microsoft and Activision from going through. However, the Court found that the record evidence the FTC provided points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content.

Meanwhile, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the FTC's appeal, citing two cases that the court found not in favor of the FTC in the past (Fed. Trade Comm'n v. Warner Commc'ns Inc., 742 F.2d 1156, 1159-60 [9th Cir. 1984] & Feldman v. Ariz. Sec'y of State, 843 F.3d 366, 367 [9th Cir. 2016]).

Despite this win against a regulator, Microsoft and Activision may have elected to close their acquisition deal much later than expected. According to HazzadorGamin on Twitter, Warren stated the two companies would wait on the CMA's go-ahead before they close the acquisition deal as it won't look good for future acquisitions.

As a result, Microsoft and Activision could be closing their deal with the CMA's approval by the end of July. On the other hand, Comicbook Gaming predicts that Microsoft could close the deal with the CMA's backing later in July or sometime in August.

The CMA was among the first regulators that blocked Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, but it recently extended its investigation by six weeks for a full and proper consideration of Microsoft's arguments for its merger to push through. However, while the CMA wants to give its final decision by Aug. 29, it aims to do so at an earlier date if possible.

What's Next For Microsoft?

As previously promised in the many contracts it made with various game distributors and companies, Microsoft will share the Call of Duty games with NVIDIA and Nintendo. Microsoft intends to bring the series' games to their platforms for ten years once regulators green-light the acquisition deal.

Sony has recently signed the same deal following the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' denial of the FTC's request, ending the feud between the two companies over the Call of Duty franchise's presence on PlayStation consoles.

Microsoft also promised to make Activision's games as accessible as Mojang Studios' Minecraft, which the company acquired in 2014.