Xbox Activision acquisition should finally be approved this week.
Xbox Activision Blizzard acquisition could finally go through for approval this week a full year after negotiations started.
Microsoft first unveiled plans to acquire Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard for an estimated value of $68.7 billion back in January 2022.
Microsoft’s attempt at an acquisition hasn’t been an easy process; not only has Microsoft needed approval from market regulators in numerous nations around the globe for it to move ahead, but Sony is fighting hard against Microsoft to ensure their deal won’t work in favour of the green brand – particularly PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan who spearheads their opposition efforts.
Sony may be concerned that Microsoft will gain too much control of the video game industry if their Activision Blizzard deal goes through; that would allow Xbox Game Pass access for every Call of Duty series available therein.
Sony had previously made arrangements to prevent Call of Duty being included in Microsoft’s subscription service and had expressed its concerns that Microsoft may release inferior versions on PlayStation, potentially leading to irreparable damage for Sony’s console business. However, this agreement appears to have fallen through as Microsoft now plans on including Call of Duty as part of their subscription offering and Sony fears this action from them will cause irreparable harm for them both.
However, Xbox Chief Phil Spencer has repeatedly indicated that Microsoft will commit to bring Call of Duty back onto PlayStation for an extended period – perhaps reflecting in part upon Nintendo’s agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles via an impressive 10-year license deal.
Well, as reported by Push Square and Indle Sloth via tweet shared through Push Square’s Indle Sloth service, an agreement worth $68.7 billion could finally be struck on Wednesday according to an article in Financial Times Paywall article which predicts this outcome for Microsoft’s favour.
Although an agreement might finally be finalised this week, that won’t mark an end to negotiations: discussions may continue regarding Call of Duty staying on PlayStation and whether both Microsoft and Sony can reach an acceptable compromise agreement.
Call of Duty will likely remain an integral component of PlayStation consoles for some time to come; its success as one of the greatest multiplatform revenue makers would put Microsoft in an awkward situation were it to pull it from PlayStation consoles altogether.
As reported by GameSpot in March 2023, Microsoft expressed no business logic behind making Call of Duty an exclusive. Both Microsoft and Sony are billion-dollar enterprises – perhaps they will come together eventually on an acceptable solution?
Activision recently made headlines when they unveiled that their Call of Duty board game will be crowdfunded through Kickstarter.
