Last month, “Call of Duty” maker Activision agreed to sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment to get the biggest deal yet in video-gaming past Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
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Here is a snapshot of key events in the Microsoft-Activision saga:
2022
Jan 18, Microsoft says it is buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion
Feb 1, Bloomberg News reports that FTC would handle the review of the deal
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March 21, FTC has sought additional data from Activision and Microsoft related to the antitrust review of their deal, the game developer says April 28, Activision Blizzard shareholders approve Microsoft’s proposal to buy the “Call of Duty” maker
July 6, Britain’s antitrust watchdog starts an investigation into the deal
Sept 1, Britain’s antitrust regulator says the deal could harm competition in gaming consoles, subscription services and cloud gaming, and it needs to be investigated in depth
Sept 7, Sony Group Corp says the offer by Microsoft to keep the “Call of Duty” series on PlayStation for a limited time is “inadequate”
Sept 15, Britain’s antitrust watchdog says it would launch an in-depth probe into the deal
Sept 30, EU antitrust regulators set Nov. 8 deadline to decide on the deal
Oct 12, Microsoft says Britain’s competition regulator had relied on objections from Sony in referring the deal to an in-depth inquiry
Dec 8, The Biden administration moves to block Microsoft-Activision deal
Dec 22, Microsoft says the deal would benefit gamers and gaming companies
2023
Feb 8, Britain takes aim at the deal, saying it could harm gamers by weakening the rivalry between Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation
Feb 21, Microsoft strikes 10-year deal to bring “Call of Duty” and other Activision games to Nvidia Corp’s gaming platform
March 1, EU regulators extend the deadline for the deal to April 25
March 8, Microsoft tells UK it will license “Call of Duty” to Sony for 10 years
March 28, Japan’s antitrust watchdog says the deal will not harm competition
April 26, UK blocks Microsoft-Activision deal over cloud gaming concerns
May 15, Microsoft wins EU antitrust approval for the deal
May 24, Microsoft appeals against UK block on the deal
June 12, US FTC asks court to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision
June 13, A US judge grants FTC’s request to temporarily block the acquisition
July 11, A US judge turns down FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop the deal
July 12, Britain’s antitrust regulator says a restructured deal could satisfy its concerns, subject to a new investigation
July 13, US FTC asks an appeals court to temporarily stop Microsoft from closing the deal, hours after a federal judge rejected a similar request
July 14, Britain’s antitrust regulator extends its final deadline to Aug. 29 after receiving a “detailed and complex” new proposal from Microsoft that claimed material changes in circumstance
July 15, A US appeals court rejects the FTC’s request to pause Microsoft’s purchase of Activision
July 16, Microsoft signs agreement to keep “Call of Duty” on PlayStation
July 17, Microsoft’s appeal against Britain’s block on its takeover of Activision was formally paused Activision, Microsoft extend deal deadline by three months to Oct. 18 to secure UK approval; urge U.S. to drop case against deal before internal FTC judge
July 20, U.S. FTC official withdraws case against Microsoft-Activision deal before internal agency judge
July 21, Microsoft-Activision deal back in hands of UK regulator after court pauses appeal
July 31, UK regulator seeks public input on Microsoft-Activision deal
Aug 22, Activision will sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment to get Microsoft deal past British regulators
Sept 22, Microsoft’s restructured acquisition of Activision “opens the door” to the deal being cleared, CMA says. The software giant has offered remedies for “residual concerns” that CMA has related to certain provisions of the deal, which the regulator is consulting on before arriving at a final decision.
