Microsoft reportedly plans to finally close its $68.7 billion (about $94 billion CAD) planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard next week.
According to The Verge, the deal could be finalized as early as Friday, October 13th. That said, the tech giant is still awaiting final approval from the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Earlier this year, Microsoft was forced to restructure the deal, giving Ubisoft the cloud gaming rights to Activision Blizzard titles. The CMA’s final ruling regarding the decision is expected to arrive next week, but Microsoft currently has preliminary approval to close the deal. To push through regulatory approval in the U.S., Microsoft announced a 10-year deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation platforms until 2033. The series will also come to Nintendo’s consoles for the next 10 years.
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard recently extended the deal’s deadline to October 18th, but it appears they hope to close the 20-month-long process of regulatory approvals slightly earlier.
In the U.S., the FTC is still appealing the outcome of a hearing that approved Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
If successful (and it likely will be at this point), Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal will be the biggest the gaming industry has ever seen, bringing franchises like Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch and more under Microsoft’s umbrella.
Microsoft first announced plans to purchase Activision Blizzard back in January 2022.
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