While it was expected that the Microsoft Activision deal may close as soon as this week, a deadline for the deal has been readjusted thanks to the continued persistence of one regulatory body in one country.
That would be the UK’s CMA, where Microsoft is trying to hammer out a new compromise that averts the cloud-based concerns that the CMA had, which caused it to block the deal there. As such, the deadline that was supposed to take place this week has now been extended to October 18, three months from now, instead.
If the original deadline was kept it could have gotten messy, and either party could have theoretically walked away. But neither Microsoft nor Activision wants that, nor could they effectively close with the UK issue outstand, so here we are, this drags on even further.
After the FTC’s triple loss ahead of an appeal about the deal, more than ever the writing has been carved into the wall, not matter what happens with the FTC here. It is now the only regulatory party blocking the deal, and there have been floated compromises like farming things out to a third party entity for UK distribution.
Even Sony, the chief antagonist during this drama who supplied regulatory agencies with many of its talking points (unofficially, of course), has just signed a 10 year deal with Microsoft to ensure Call of Duty stays on their platform, as Xbox’s Phil Spencer said under oath that it would. It’s another nail in the coffin for the idea that the deal could be stopped, as now there are essentially zero competitors still claiming to have an issue with it.
As I’ve said previously, this should have almost no near-term effect on players of any Activision Blizzard games. Longer term, it’s possible, if not likely, Call of Duty installments go on Game Pass. And future revived Activision Blizzard IPs may end up being exclusive to Xbox, but obviously nothing on the scale of Call of Duty.
The deadline being extended for three months does not necessarily mean it will take three months. Microsoft and Activision just didn’t want the current deadline to expire without changing it, but closing may happen whenever this compromise is worked out with the CMA. Three months is just padding to make sure they don’t have to extend again soon. The FTC still has its appeal, but it has not been granted a stay to prevent the deal from closing before that.
As ever, this seems like it will never end, and right now, the new max extension is another quarter. Hopefully it can be done much sooner than that.
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