EU Approves MS / ACTI Merger

Last week people said this was rumoured to happen this week and it has

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/15/microsoft-activision-deal-eu-approves-takeover-of-call-of-duty-maker.html

of course the CMA is rebuking the EU lol

We have the Ukraine thread dude

But yeah cows are rekkd.

CMA crying a river.

Lord Phil wins again!

EU > Ukraine

Question from here should be does MS ink this deal now while fighting it out with FTC and CMA or wait another 1-2 years for this process to conclude? I think they'll go ahead with it if they can simply keep ABK content off of Game Pass in only UK while they appeal. Rumor was MS was confident enough about their case in FTC administrative court to ink it before that concludes.

This can’t be right. I heard that this deal was dead. 😐

He means it makes no sense to use the existing thread regardless it's Ukraine. Still, I'm in no position to tell anyone what to do, and anyone is free to make the thread, but I felt it was a waste of effort to do so, which is why I posted the update on the merging news.

Deal will be approved sooner or later, system is not meant to protect consumers like they are supposed to it’s meant to protect the companies.

Dude! You are the MOD! You have the POWA! You are THE MAN!

With the EU approval, i feel the deal is going through..

Interestingly enough, neither the EU or the CMA have any issues with the potential impact to the console market..

@kvallyx: I am a GS user first before a mod...thank you, sweetheart😎

Now, if you excuse me, I am off to go play games on my PC😉

Deal is dead. Book it. Zero chance of success at appealing CMA and they won’t pull out of UK.

You lems are just huffing copium

Look at ATVI stock price action - you think people are convinced it’s a done deal? Lmao hopium

I don't know who to believe anymore😲

If the US gives the OK it will 100% go through. This is extremely interesting to follow how UK's absurd decision will impact them.

Yeah, that is what I am reading now from other media outlets.

@davillain: It’s only over when it’s over and it ain’t over yet. Don’t really care too much one way or the other. Will be happy when it’s truly over though.

Eu always gotta do the opposite of what UK does

Would be interesting to see if ms tried to pull out of the UK market.

@robert_sparkes: They don’t have to, they can get another company to publish its games there.

https://newsroom.activisionblizzard.com/p/activision-microsoft-deal-ec-approval

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick sent the following email to employees on Monday:

Today, we achieved an important milestone: the European Commission (EC), one of the world’s most thorough and respected regulators, approved our merger with Microsoft. This decision underscores the benefits our transaction provides to players and to competition.

Careful regulators in numerous other countries have already approved the merger. By joining them today, the EC has once again demonstrated their rigorous, fair and sensible approach with the creation of appropriate regulatory guardrails that ensure competition in important growth industries.

Microsoft has agreed to conditions as part of the EC’s approval, including licenses for legitimate cloud gaming providers to stream Activision Blizzard games and enforcement mechanisms to ensure these regulatory commitments are upheld.

This important step provides a proper roadmap for regulators around the world to consider when determining how best to encourage and promote competition in the gaming industry.

There is still work to be accomplished before our merger can be finalized but it is encouraging that regulators like the European Commission understand and appreciate the considerable growth opportunities provided by our industry.

Thank you for your patience as we work to promote fair, free trade, healthy competition and broader recognition for the extraordinary work our people do each day to entertain hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Bobby

I'm very curious about the remedy that requires Microsoft to offer their users access to their content on other services.

This part does kind of confuse me some because in ways to keep Microsoft from being a monopoly they're essentially telling MS they have to find ways to bridge users entitlements to other platforms, and that to me seems like it can have an opposite effect of having the Xbox ecosystem be integral entitlement bridge between services, something that can become monopolistic, but, whatever, their call.

And what about Sony and PlayStation? In ways MS is being told by EU that Xbox users should be able to play their owned games and Game Pass games gratis on the PS ecosystem... well, Sony is not going to want to host content they received no royalties for. And definitely not if that means all that content comes at the expense of getting future royalties.

But then, curious question, what if MS evolves their COD model to basically just release some F2P demo or whatever and then when it logs into your Xbox account to verify content suddenly Game Pass users have a full game with campaign access and their unlocked MP content and map packs. What if Microsoft uses this to basically get Game Pass on PlayStation for all their releases. Offer demo versions that unlock full rights when that game is linked to their XBL account and it verifies their entitlements. And basically the EU is giving MS their blessing to try. Obviously Sony is going to say no.

@kvallyx: ooff Bobby throwing all sorts of shade at the CMA

All MS has to do now is create a subsidiary and pull Gamepass out of the UK.

Done deal.

The deal is for all games to be multiplat for a total of 10 years. 10 years fly by quickly. Monopoly acquired. 🤷‍♂️

@randy_lahey:

You picked your alt name yet kid 🤣

The decision prevents the acquisition of Activision and, not just the publishing of Activision games.

The CMA has blocked that option:

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/uk-regulator-adds-further-restrictions-against-microsoft-activision-blizzard

Actually it doesn't. It prevents them from conducting specific services in UK only.

salty Sony Fannie s 😂😂

So if UK gamers can't get COD on Game Pass, what if they change their console region? 🤔

How much MS money are in those regulators pockets? This sucks!

Grats to the MS legal team. Worth every billable hour.

Umm... that only applies to the UK.

How much of Sony's money is in the CMT's pocket is a better question.

@lamprey263: Then they can get it.

Having any VPN provider such as SurfShark will be able to play any region games as it works with Netflix as Game Pass is a Netflix style for gaming.

Xbox studios call of duty

Pretty crazy when you say it out loud, given how pivotal CoD has been to gaming for almost 20 years. It defines multiplatform gaming along with like...Madden. It's in that 1st tier of games people think of when talking about multiplatform games. And clearly it will remain multiplat for the rest of the decade. After that tho...glhf 👀

@adrian1480: lots of fear mongering over exclusivity lol. MS doesn't care about exclusives. The thing they do care about is becoming a huge player in the gaming market. Making cod or any of the big games exclusive won't help them reach that goal.

I wouldn't celebrate that much at all.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/microsofts-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard-whats-going-on-and-what-happens-next

Clock is ticking. CMA won't change their stance. That's the problem. Looks like August is the deadline and EU will say NO to the deal if nothing changes till August.

It is because FTC, CMA needs to say yes. But CMA won't change their own stance. It is an uphill battle for MS

Nope. Problem is for Microsoft and i've mentioned that i other thread : The UK is already by far the biggest AI hub for investment in Europe and a leading AAA gaming hub globally as well. Bobby Kotick and Nadella know this first hand. As it is mentioned above, UK ruling is a worldwide ruling, no matter what the Xbox peeps are saying. It's a worldwide rulling because Microsoft cannot pull from the UK.

I think the sky made that deal happen. What a whopper!

Looks like it is smooth sailing for MS now.

CMA is batshit crazy for their reasoning. Must be paid off by Sony.

@loudheadphones: It’s not a worldwide ruling because Microsoft can still offer UK-only concessions to get the deal through. They can remove Activision games from UK Game Pass (but still have it on Game Pass in countries that approved the merger), making it impossible for CMA to accuse them of having any monopoly.

All the people calling the deal dead conveniently ignore the possibility of MS just outright buying those people off (if they're not doing it already). Wouldn't put it past them to do so.

First mover advantage.

Once Game Pass becomes a household name, it's extremely difficult for a competitor to gain any traction within the space. See Facebook for example.

@loudheadphones said:

@mesome713 said:

CMA crying a river.

@zaryia said:

Lord Phil wins again!

@lamprey263 said:

Question from here should be does MS ink this deal now while fighting it out with FTC and CMA or wait another 1-2 years for this process to conclude? I think they'll go ahead with it if they can simply keep ABK content off of Game Pass in only UK while they appeal. Rumor was MS was confident enough about their case in FTC administrative court to ink it before that concludes.

@Antwan3K said:

With the EU approval, i feel the deal is going through..

Interestingly enough, neither the EU or the CMA have any issues with the potential impact to the console market..

@xhawk27 said:

salty Sony Fannie s 😂😂

I wouldn't celebrate that much at all.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/microsofts-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard-whats-going-on-and-what-happens-next

Clock is ticking. CMA won't change their stance. That's the problem. Looks like August is the deadline and EU will say NO to the deal if nothing changes till August.

@Archangel3371 said:

This can’t be right. I heard that this deal was dead. 😐

It is because FTC, CMA needs to say yes. But CMA won't change their own stance. It is an uphill battle for MS

@dabear said:

@Nonstop-Madness said:

@mesome713 said:

@robert_sparkes: They don’t have to, they can get another company to publish its games there.

The decision prevents the acquisition of Activision and, not just the publishing of Activision games.

@theam0g said:

All MS has to do now is create a subsidiary and pull Gamepass out of the UK.

Done deal.

The deal is for all games to be multiplat for a total of 10 years. 10 years fly by quickly. Monopoly acquired. 🤷‍♂️

The CMA has blocked that option:

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/uk-regulator-adds-further-restrictions-against-microsoft-activision-blizzard

Umm... that only applies to the UK.

Nope. Problem is for Microsoft and i've mentioned that i other thread : The UK is already by far the biggest AI hub for investment in Europe and a leading AAA gaming hub globally as well. Bobby Kotick and Nadella know this first hand. As it is mentioned above, UK ruling is a worldwide ruling, no matter what the Xbox peeps are saying. It's a worldwide rulling because Microsoft cannot pull from the UK.

Everything you said is correct...but only half correct that is. While it is true UK is a total blow for MS, deals can still be made in some type of way through Game Pass but how far can Game Pass get through UK is the real question. MS has 3 months to get everything right or just deal with the L for MS and move on.

For better or worst, I'm just curious how this will play out but still, I'll be happy when its finally over rather MS gets Activision or not.

@loudheadphones: Except if MS threatens to pull out, will the UK blink? It's not like other countries tries in the EU world love to step right in.

You put too much stock in the UK's global power.

I'm wondering what the FTC is going to do.