Activision and Xbox: how is the deal going?

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As the discussion fueled by the EU commission's response to the FTC's lawsuit against Microsoft continues online, the Redmond-based company is gearing up for an important new meeting with the British regulator to discuss the $70 billion deal it has struck with Activision.

According to industry analysts who are closely following the stages of this deal, between now and the next few days, Microsoft's lawyers are expected to appear before the Competition and Markets Authority (better known as the CMA) to set out the U.S. company's view on this deal and, presumably, respond to the commission's findings regarding monopoly and risks of harm to competition.

Early next week, Microsoft and Activision executives + lawyers will appear before the CMA for a hearing. Phil Spencer and Rima Alaily, the company's deputy general counsel, are expected to attend.

credit: Idas

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A long battle that continues to grow

Phil Spencer, boss of the Xbox division, and Rima Alaily, Microsoft's deputy general counsel, are also expected to attend the hearing. According to analysts' claims, at this phase 2 of the CMA's investigation into the Activision-Microsoft deal, the British antitrust authority would seem to be less concerned about the dangers posed by those, such as Sony, aiming to kill this deal by citing the risks of monopoly on shooters, the economic damage caused by possible Xbox exclusivity on Call of Duty, and the dangers to competition from the growth of Game Pass or cloud gaming.

While we wait to read the report of this meeting between Microsoft and the British CMA, we remind those who follow us that the 'video game soap opera' for the Activision deal will continue until mid-2023 and perhaps even beyond that.

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One of the most critical steps is expected to occur as early as January 2023, with the EU Commission expected to approve the deal or file objections, thus helping to further lengthen its own time frame for evaluating the deal.

What is your opinion on this purchase? Let us know in the comments!