UKRAINE - 2023/06/15: In this photo illustration, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard logos are seen on a smartphone and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) logo on a pc screen. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Activision and Microsoft have agreed to extension in record sale
With the FTC debacle out of the way, Activision and Microsoft have agreed to a 3 month extension.
Activision and Microsoft have now given each other until October 18, 2023, to put the deal through for the sale to Microsoft. The deal also comes with an increased cancelation penalty from $3 billion to $4.5 billion. However, if the deal falls through before August 29th, the penalty is $3.5 Billion
Lulu Cheng Meservey, the Chief Communications Officer for Activision, said in a tweet they are confident the European Union Regulatory bodies will find a remedy for the deal:
Update on Activision Blizzard’s merger with Microsoft: agreement deadline extended
The recent decision in the U.S. and approvals in 40 countries all validate that the deal is good for competition, players, and the future of gaming.
Given global regulatory approvals and the…
— Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) July 19, 2023
Phil Spencer also confirmed this in a tweet stating:
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have extended the merger agreement deadline to 10/18. We’re optimistic about getting this done, and excited about bringing more games to more players everywhere.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 19, 2023
Microsoft has made deals with Sony and Nintendo attempting to keep games on all platforms and even signed a deal to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation platform, one of the biggest contentions with the merger in the first place. The FTC argued that Microsoft had an incentive to make the games play worse on PlayStation platforms or even Nintendo, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say investing $70 billion in buying a business and then removing it off certain platforms is bad for business.
Despite all the FTC effort, the deal has been allowed to go through and is seemingly going to be allowed to go through in Europe as well.
Microsoft has also announced an end to Games with Gold and has added another tier to the Game Pass as well. Microsoft has also signed multiple deals with Cloud Gaming services and NIVIDIA as well in preparation for the deal to go through.
