Xbox company Microsoft is set to finalize its acquisition of Activision Blizzard on Friday the 13th, according to a report from The Verge.
According to one source familiar with the matter, the $68.7 billion purchase of the Call of Duty and Diablo IV maker will finally go through next week, October 13, 2023, as a final decision from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to arrive soon. However, plans could change depending on exactly when the decision comes through. Finalizing one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of games on the unluckiest day of the year doesn’t exactly get things off to a positive start, so for Microsoft’s sake, let’s hope the date isn’t accurate. Still, it looks like we’ll be hearing about the Activision Blizzard team’s official move to Xbox sooner rather than later, especially considering the deadline for the deal is on October 18.
Microsoft’s nearly two-year-long process to acquire Activision Blizzard has been tumultuous, to say the least. Since announcing its plans in January of 2022, the company has faced pushback from regulators across the globe. Most notably in December 2022, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced plans to block the acquisition. At the time, the entity cited fears that the purchase “would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.”
Microsoft’s very public legal battle against the FTC lasted months, with matters made worse for the company when the CMA voted to block the merger in April of this year. However, in July, the Xbox maker proved victorious over the FTC, and following some moves made to appease UK regulators, it looks like the CMA will finally move out of the way, too. While the FTC is still working to stop the merger, it feels like Microsoft is nearly ready to bring its fight for Activision Blizzard to an end.
Related: Why the FTC’s Weak Challenge Won’t Prevent the Microsoft-Activision Merger
As a result of the mishandling of legal documents related to its battle with the FTC, Microsoft suffered massive leaks back in September. Prematurely released information not only included unannounced video games but schematics for video game consoles that had not been officially revealed. It was a major blow for a company that seemed to have finally pulled itself out of the muck.
