Microsoft's effort to acquire Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard was already starting to look quite dire, but an appeals process is currently underway, we're told. If unsuccessful, however, Microsoft will apparently need to wait a full decade before it will be able to try again.
Over on ResetEra, the entire saga has been chronicled in a 900+ page official thread, with the OP (Idas) putting their skills as a European antitrust lawyer to fantastic use. Now, we aren't lawyers (preferring to work in our pyjamas), but we can confirm that on page 339, under article 11.29 of the final report, it reads:
"Prohibition would be affected by accepting undertakings under section 82 of the Act or making an order under section 84 of the Act, prohibiting the Merger and preventing the Parties from attempting to merge for a further period: our normal practice would be to prevent a future merger between the Parties for the next ten years, absent a change of circumstances."
We won't pretend to understand the full nuance or complete context here, but that looks pretty clear-cut to our layman's eyes. Recall that Microsoft recently said ten years was plenty of time for Sony to create its own Call of Duty competitor; we imagine it could do the same in a similar time span.
Do you think this deal is well and truly dead, or does this story have a twist or two left in it? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source resetera.com]
Comments 93
This will be a win if Microsoft fails this. Possibly dissuade them from going on a shopping spree for other gaming companies
Microsoft shouldn’t talk trash about the CMA lol 😂.
I'm still curious what the EU and US do or say. If they both block it then the UK doesn't really matter, but if they both go ahead and approve it then I can see MS fighting the UK and the CMA more.
I don't think the US will approve it but I can see the EU oking it just as a dig at the UK for Brexit.
I think that sony will already be working on a call of duty competitor, I dont think they will have just waited around to see if Microsoft win or not, they needed a backup plan just in case, might take a few years to get going but with sonys first party talent they could easily do a better game than cod.
10 years is plenty of time for Microsoft to create its own Call of Duty competitor.
@rjejr the EU would sell their own mother if it meant spiting the UK over brexit 😂
@MoorePs4 I was actually thinking pretty much the same thing. And I’d love to see it too. FPS games are one of my favorite genre in gaming and I’d love to see what Sony could come up with along the lines of a military FPS. heck, I’d even settle for a revived Killzone or even better RESISTANCE!
Thats enough time to make a COD competitor, according to MS.
@MoorePs4 It doesnt matter if the game is better than COD, it will never be anywhere near as big.
@Amppari
That’s very true.
Titanfall 2 was objectively the best FPS of the previous generation, with only Doom and Doom Eternal matching its campaign but fell on their faces in multiplayer. In terms of a complete package T2 was the best console aimed FPS in a generation.
And it sold like booty. And in 2016 Battlefield One blew that year’s COD away in terms of quality but it failed to even achieve half its sales. After that Battlefield slid into a complete laughing stock with V and then the disaster known as 2042.
COD is its own platform now. You can easily make a better FPS game. But you won’t compete with it financially speaking.
Been noting the hypocrisy of Microsoft's assertions over this for sometime...they claim Sony could easily come up with their own COD competitor & yet are spending literally $70 billion on buying Activision Blizzard's IP's because they clearly CAN'T themselves! 🙄
But it makes far more sense if like the Zenimax Bethesda buyout it means they can prevent future popular IP's & new releases from previously 3rd party AAA studios appearing on its main competitor.
@rjejr In the US the FTC is basically irrelevant at this point because a federal court can override their decision and honestly Microsoft has more solid arguments than the FTC to win at court, so currently it all depends on the EU, if they approve it then this will drag on another year but the deal will close eventually, however if the EU blocks I can’t see Microsoft fighting all 3 regulators and winning so it’d be over.
I’m honestly tired of this, I’d take any result if that meant we’d stop hearing about this a whole other year but so far it doesn’t seem that way.
So next year we'll have a new game called Duty Calls.
I dislike rumors and speculation. We all will know everything after it's over. My time's too precious for this..
Get a PC…This ish needs to stop.
The deal will be dead if EU also blocks.
If EU approves, Activision will do whatever it can to divest itself from any UK assets so it can proceed without UK approval.
Microsoft already had enough studio, what their need is games, not buying more studio and consolidating gaming ecosystem 😕
@IOI nitpick correction: it’s not that the courts can override the FTC, it’s that the FTC does not actually have the power to block at all. For the FTC to block, they need to sue, and they need to convince the courts there are legal grounds to consider the acquisition “illegal”, an extremely tall order.
@Amppari I know that's why I said would take a few years to get in to, if sony created their own cod competitor and spent money on advertising that they used to on cod maybe it would work, I've just thought as well a certain percentage of the sales of cod on any console must be down to sonys advertising for it.
@Nepp67 Unfortunately they’ll most likely win the appeal.
@Robocod sony probably could with the amount of talent, microsoft couldn't so they have to buy COD
@IOI Stay strong. MS needs to absolutely lose this case. Video games future is in the balance imo.
Hey Microsoft get their own 10 year deal 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Maybe Microsoft can do what they said Sony can do, and create their own call of duty competitor. They will have 10 years to do it 😂
Is this ten year ban just for activision or are other companies included?
This will definitely turn into a political war between the US and the UK, since Microsoft has pocketed a number of politicians.
But can anyone confirm why would this block actually stop Microsoft from buying? they can just stop releasing any product that results from the deal into the UK market and that would be fine ?
@Stormageddon the appeal is to CAT, not the CMA
"Microsoft recently said ten years was plenty of time for Sony to create its own Call of Duty competitor; we imagine it could do the same in a similar time span."
Give them 20 years and they have a AAAAA CoD struggling with 30FPS an 720p resolution, one biodome and no plan for GAAS.
@MoorePs4 @rjejr There’s zero evidence the EU have or would do anything like that. It’s a Daily Mail dog-whistle, the same baseless nonsense that got the UK in the dire situation we now find ourselves.
"under article 11.29".
11.29 is also the average number of article per month about Activision-blizzard acquisition on push square. Can we slow down on the amount of rumour and speculation articles until something actually new comes up?
"Prohibition would be affected by accepting undertakings under section 82 of the Act or making an order under section 84 of the Act,"
Does anyone here know what is under those sections?
I actually think the EU is the one to watch now, @rjejr. If the EU okay the deal, then it puts pressure on the US (which has a very weak case anyway). However, if the EU refuse the deal, then I think the matter is pretty much sorted with the deal being dead as it won't then matter what the US decide to do.
In the event that the EU and the US agree the deal, then I can see Microsoft going ahead with the deal, and the UK will become isolated. Basically, I think that the UK will continue as if the games were still ABK owned; they would have to buy the games, be unable to access them via the cloud, and they won't be on the Game Pass in the UK, but will around the rest of the world. As compensation, I think the UK will be able to both buy ABK games at a cost slightly cheaper than they are able now, and that there will be a small discount on the Game Pass. I can see this happening, and UK gamers will be worse of as a consequence, but it won't be Microsoft that they will blame, it'll be the CMA...
I think Microsoft should have never tried to buy Activision Blizzard and instead used its money to sort out its existing studios, and make decent games and actually release them! Not release 30FPS rushed games because Game Pass needs constant content.
I’m switching to PS5. Given up waiting for Xbox games and I can stream the ones I want anyway. They aren’t managing their existing studios well, extra power means nothing without decent content to use it. Just debating on disk or digital PS5?
When I heard that MS has 60 to 70% of global games services market I agreed with the CMA’s decision. MS are trying to monopolise that market for sure.
@MoorePs4 The EU‘s largest member states are export economies. The UK relies heavily on EU imports(that now include tariffs hence the cost of living being so insane now). So, no, if they block or approve the deal then Brexit really has nothing to with it. Brexit isn’t really an important issue to the EU tbh.
Will be interesting to what happens. In my opinion, governments should stay out of this stuff anyway - though obviously it’s a concern that we could end up with de facto monopolies.
@SamMR Because the UK market is huge with billions and a key strategic one too. It’s considered to be vitally important and it’s why MS and Activision apparently said if it doesn’t pass in the UK, US or EU then they won’t go through with it as these are the three markets they make their money from.
The more I read about this megacorp acquisition tale, the more I think it needs to be turned into a comedy TV-series featuring Harvel Keitel as Jim Ryan and Nathan Fillion as Phil Spencer.
The whole saga has been farcical. Will be interesting see what MS do with the 10 year deals they have been signing all over the place.
If the deal is allowed to go through in the US and EU, does that then mean that it automatically stands worldwide?
If it does go through then can Sony appeal?
I have a feeling that this saga could go for a few years yet.
I still don’t get why COD is the only way Sony makes profits. That claim is odd. And lacking in reality.
the UK government are corrupt to the core. Would only take a few threats from US Politicians to get the government to put pressure on the CMA to change there mind.
Wow all the commentators actually think this was about cod lmfao
This was always about phone store , acti phone apps earn way much more than cod added to the fact that they had plans to have Thier own store as a default on android /iPhone phones ( like windows was forced to give ppl a choice with browser/windows media centre years back ) if the EU laws get passed next year ......cod is nothing compared to how much they will make off a phone store
I think the EU will say no. Their consumer protection laws and stance is often more aggressive than the UK.
As I said the other day, one such example is the EU have forced Apple to abandon using the Lightning charging port in future iPhones in the interest of the consumer in favour of standard USB-C so that they can't have a monopoly charging £25 for propriety charging.
And Apple have had to comply or risk losing that market.
Microsoft buying one of the biggest publishers in one fell swoop that controls two of the biggest IP's in gaming (Candy Crush being one) may be seen as a big red flag in consumer choice. They offered a 10 year deal sure. But it gives them a huge advantage after that and they're likely to reach the same conclusion as the CMA.
Also to note. The UK consumers rights laws in the majority come from the EU court. So their laws are almost in parity with the EU being more proactive.
Edit.
It's just occurred to me that recently the EU have also forced Nintendo to offer free repairs and replacements of Joy-Cons and controllers forever even outside of warranty within the European Union to consumers. Another rule that has been forced on a large company. Let's let that sink in. Companies from outside of the EU within the last year are being forced to act in the best interest of the consumer in a very aggressive way that has been unprecedented in the rest of the world before.
@GADG3Tx87 exactly my point the EU is tougher ...(not on about the acti)but with stores on phones ,apple didn't want to have usb c but EU had Thier way eventually
And they will with allowing other companies stores on their phones too eventually , and this is where Microsoft see the money
This was clearly some under the table deal or pay off, the excuse of Microsoft effecting the cloud market is laughable and clearly a paid for result because the UK has no cloud gaming market as on average our WiFi is not good enough
Microsoft will just go to another country and get this approved which then means they can't trade in the UK that's what will happen so the UK has ruined things for gamers as when this deal does go through UK won't get the games
@Stormageddon why people keep not actually reading what I wrote?
I didn’t say Microsoft would leave the UK. I said that Activision would divest of it’s UK assets, one studio and a couple publishing offices. This might mean:
A) Spinning them off into independent entities
B) Relocating them to Europe
C) Shutting them down if the previous don’t work
The only reason CMA can block the deal is because the UK can dictate and regulate the transfer of assets that exist within the UK. If ABK owns no assets in the region, they have no power over the deal, MS gets to finalize the deal, and simply (potentially) would have to rely on a third party to publish ABK games in the region.
Again: this is only if EU approves. It EU moves to block, there is no enough room for ABK to restructure in any way to get out of that one. They have way too many offices and studios on the EU to ever make that work.
@Shadcai this is only for ABK, and as the line quoted in the article notes: it’s void if there are significant market changes. Hell, given the reasoning, Microsoft could simply kill their streaming service and that alone would change the market enough for the ban to be void.
(There is zero chance MS will kill their streaming service, this was just an example.)
Yes jim ryan is happy now.haha.haha.playstion is the g.o.a.t. 🐐 👑.word up son
@SamMR main reason the CMA has power over the deal is the UK can regulate asset transfers within the country, and ABK owns at least 2 publishing offices and 3 studio offices (one primary game studio, Sledgehammer, not sure if all offices are Sledgehammer’s or if there are additional support studios in the region.)
Big question is, how critical these assets are to ABK. Sledgehammer is one of the studios working on CoD, their last entry was Vanguard.
@simondud1 it's ok , if they do take games from the UK , and it's a big if ,you can always change console region and get em like ppl do now with day one game just change console to New Zealand and there you go
@IOI Yep. Will be glad when it’s all done one way or another. Too many egos at play and it’s all unsavoury.
I want as many games to be available on as many platforms as possible but also am happy with exclusives. When all systems are on top form, gamers benefit but this whole saga has become more about Jim Ryan and Phil Spencer acting like spoiled brats in a playground.
@CRASH64 They got Halo and look how that went.
The problem is Microsoft's management style does not fit games development. They have time and again ruined studios much like EA is famous for.
You can imagine how difficult it is for execs to admit they are the problem, so MS went about buying stuff right off to atempt cornering a market and curtailing competition before it blossoms. They got caught though.
If this is what they are doing i would rather MS sold assets off and went elsewhere. They are poison. We, the consumers were the ones that were gonna get abused if this went through. Just like MS abuses us with Windows and office. Charging exorbitant prices and forcing updates we have to comply to cause there is no alternative.
I don't know how I want this to go really as an omni gamer. On the one hand, Microsoft owns a hell of a lot of IP right now... on the other second in line to bid on ActiBlizz was facebook and I do not want them having such a huge foothold in the gaming industry. Let alone having to use Facebook to log into World of Warcraft or something daft.
@FenIsMightier scorched earth and what, making things exclusive to game pass? I guess. Be cutting off their nose to spite their face.
@Fiendish-Beaver Nice exposition, concur.👍
@FenIsMightier Anyone not expecting scorched Earth missed M$ in the 90’s. 😆
@Tharsman “nitpick correction” That’s the kind of thing I don’t understand. The FTC has no real power to block 1 US company from buying another but the CMA in the UK does? 🤷🏻♂️ It’s kind of why I agree with MS being annoyed, who does CMA think they are? I think MS public display is a mistake, should have kept that behind the scenes where it belongs, but I can understand how an all powerful illegal monopoly can view things this way. Power corrupts and all that. Just read all your other comments, thanks for all of that, you seem like the only person who really knows what’s going on.
@MoorePs4 I’m sticking with you on this one, @HUMPERDOO is bad mouthing the Daily Mail like it’s a rag tabloid or something. Can’t have sensibilities in the comments section.😉
@IOI “I’d take any result if that meant we’d stop hearing about this a whole other year”
Tell me about it. It’s 2023 and in this timeline Trump is somehow still President and the 2020 pandemic that was supposed disappear in 2 weeks has been ongoing for 3 years. And we still haven’t found D B Cooper yet and I still don’t know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. Someone needs to reboot the simulation, the data’s corrupted.😂
@FenIsMightier I definitely have this feeling that we're about to see 90's Microsoft again. Not saying that MS will win an appeal, but I think they at the very least have a strong ground to fight for one, since most people seem to think the cloud concerns are utter BS. But I really think this corp has basically just been laying low for the better part of two decades trying to stay out of the government's crosshairs, and I'm pretty sure they've finally found a reason to take the gloves off. I think this is extremely far from over.
@Wheatly
But according to Microsoft owns numbers they are bigger then Sony.
They have more studios, they have more active users each month.
They stopped caring for console and game sells years ago.
They have almost 70% of cloud gaming and would get bigger after this deal and you think that is good.
Xbox players always talk about cloud gaming exept when it went against Microsoft, then console sales are important again.
@Wheatly Did Sony assume its market position by making a good product or by spending close to $100 billion on publishers?
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
10 years sounds like a great amount of time to create some new games/franchises it just makes you wonder what they been doing the previous 10
Maybe if they produced a console that more people wanted to buy they wouldn't have to resort to tactics like this in the first place.
@Nightcrawler60 : What a mature answer. How is anything gonna change, if you stay silent
@rjejr it’s a bureaucratic difference. The CMA (and the EU, as far as I understand) have the power to block, and you would have to sue/appeal to overrule that.
The FTC on the other hand is structured in such a way that they can only block by suing.
Reason is because the FTC at the end of the day is meant to simply enforce laws, not to make simple philosophical calls. If they can’t point at laws that are being violated, and prove it, they can’t do anything.
CMA and EU do get to make more nuanced calls, and they can make judgements based on opinions and what they feel is harmful to the economy even if there is no written law specifically pointing out the concern. They still need to operate within certain legal parameters, they can’t lie or hide information from a party (they hid information from Meta during the whole Giphy acquisition thing and got slapped in the wrist over it.)
I might not agree with the CMA resolution, but given ABK has offices and studios in the UK, they have the right to make calls. At the same time, ABK can get rid of those via any means other than selling them to Microsoft.
@get2sammyb
How about C, decades of third party exclusivity deals?
I’m only being half serious, that is one of the biggest reason they are leaders. PS2 being a cheap DVD helped them plenty, they didn’t have exactly an easy time securing third party exclusivity deals during the PS3 days.
I think the question is a bit disingenuous. Yes, Sony didn’t PS to where it is via spending so many billions, but the real question is: is it actually so extremely unfair? I ask this seriously, is it unfair for the market and Sony that MS is trying to acquire ABK, someone whom wants to sell?
This is not a hostile takeover, and even if CoD stopped shipping on PS5, they would not lose their console market dominance.
It's laughable how many people have no idea why MS is trying to buy Activision thinking it is all to do with Call oF Duty, they couldn't care less about COD which is why they've promised everyone a 10-year deal! Activision make more money from mobile games than PC & console combined, Candy Crush makes as much money as COD on its own.
The console market also needs this deal to go through to make more competition for Sony, who would still be the largest game developer in the world after this deal.
@SamMR No, it does not stop Microsoft from buying Activision, but, what it does, is that Microsoft will have to make Activision leave the UK market since they can't sell these games anymore there or have their inclusion on Xcloud blocked in the UK
Best case scenario is both companies go scorched earth and we get to watch with popcorn.
The paid version of cod will be dead within 10 years.
@Tharsman Looks like the EU is supposed to give it's decision in 3 weeks. Sounds like they were leaning towards ok'ing it but I wonder now if they will? All those guys - I'm assuming as always, until proven otherwise, that these people are always old white men who golf together - would want to be on the same page. But Brexit means they don't have to be so... 🤷♂️
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/eu-regulator-delays-decision-on-microsofts-activision-deal-after-remedies-offered/
US gov't is always anti-MS, and usually for good reason, so I don't see how this passes here anyway. At this point it kinda feels like it's over but I'm ok w/ being entertained by scorched earth MS. 😂
I am assuming u are a USA based media outlet? If EU approve the deal, and if FTC approve or microsoft win their case in court with FTC. Than if CMA do not approve this merger, than what will happen is Activision will be pulled from UK market including UK IP addresses for 10 years.
So as few said earlier, this being block in UK, esp CMA track record is not something to celebrate be if you are xbox or playstation. (Yes microsoft would pull it out of uk aka they said would pull from USA which is bigger market)
The key one to watch is EU, if they approve, deal is really on. If the reject it, than I say it will be on life support if not indeed dead
@Martsmall you be able to do that for "single player games" but not multi player games that COD and war of craft is famous for. Cause UK IP addresses be barred. Yes u can use VPN but would than put u at a disvantaged..
@Stormageddon it be Activision leaving UK not xbox and they have right to appeal. CMA don't have a say, but they can still say nope. But than If EU agrees and CMA said no even after appeal. They finish after recent other decisions and they know it.
Removed - trolling/baiting
@rjejr if the EU blocks there is little point in what the FTC or the US will end up looking like, but as far as I know, the FTC has not actually shown any laws being broken by the deal. The closest thing they can try to bring up is monopoly laws, those are industry specific, not related to the size of the company.
I have a hard time seeing the US federal courts siding with the FTC, at least not at the Supreme Court level.
As for the federal government not liking MS, that’s not true at all. The federal government is one of Microsoft’s largest customers, if not the largest.
@Arkantos2990
That’s not how it would play either. They would have to divest themselves of all UK assets, that’s mostly publishing offices and studios. They could continue selling games in the region but only via publishing deals with a third party (potentially the now independent branch.)
That new independent entity could, potentially, cut a regional deal with anyone, be it Microsoft or Sony, for streaming games in the region, or include them in multi-game subscription services. The entity could be set up in a way that it can later be acquired should Microsoft succeed their appeal, or simply allow it to continue perpetually working independently on that region if MS loses their appeal and the UK parlament does not override the CMA (another thing that can actually happen.)
hilarious with all those 10 year deals haha
Seems pretty bizarre that 2 American companies can get the deal approved everywhere else in the world but one country can seemingly stop it.... personally would want this to go through as it's more games to play at no extra cost for me...but I am not overly fussed
Sony are worth 120 billion USD, Nintendo are worth around 60 billion USD, MS are worth 2300 billion USD.
Letting a company that are orders of magnitude richer than all competitors in their market buy up some of the most influential franchises around in order to dominate subscription and cloud gaming moving forward is not something I’m keen on. Especially when that company also owns a lot of the cloud servers (Azure) that all their competition needs to run on (including Sony).
I’d be happy if a halt was put on such things here, especially so millions of gamers can continue to play the likes of Diablo.
There is literally no benefit to any gamer in this buyout scenario, other than saving Gamepass holders a tiny bit of money at the expense of causing MS’s only rival in the same space to lose billions they can Ill afford to lose, and which would inevitably mean they have far less to invest in their great games and hardware innovations.
Money will tell however, and MS have so much more than anyone else, plus huge experience in lobbying governments and fighting monopoly claims, so I don’t have much confidence things will actually go the right way for gamers.
@rjejr Does make me laugh that M$ are going all 'scorched earth', etc. Don't they know we've already had Brexit and are therefore completely ruined anyway?
Just wish New Sony would stop crying and moaning about a fish (cod) and acquire the rights to their 'mascots' Crash and Spyro when the dust settles.
After Redfall, I think Microsoft should be banned from purchasing any more developers. Thank god Xbox said no to a PS5 version so they could polish up the Xbox release! 🤣🤣💀💀
@CRASH64 Actually, an excellent comment.
@SamMR the only thing I can think would be enormous fines or maybe even ban MSFT from doing ANY biz in the UK? But if it’s just a matter of not selling Gamepass or certain games in the UK, if I am MSFT, that’s a big “who cares?” for me.
Taking notes from Sing's trailer, I see lol
Regardless, it looks promising. Not big on gran turismo but since this is actually based on a tru story I'm curious.
If it fails all Microsoft need to do is buy 40% shares in activision but exclusivity rights and make a ten year deal to put cod and all their other games on game pass the CMA can't do nothing about that
@rockodoodle they can set up a shell company in the UK
@rjejr The US supports it due to numerous politicians stating that they dislike the fact that Sony is benefiting from the past 2 generations of consoles. But each of them has a direct connection or a connection to someone else with a connection who benefits from donations from Microsoft.
@SillyBoyJudas They're all bought. Guess the FTC wasn't bought enough though. 😉
@sanderson72 Sony does seem whiny. They seem to buy as many companies as they put out games, seems a bit too pot calling the kettle black for my liking. 😝
@Tharsman "federal government is one of Microsoft’s largest customers"
I don't think the gov't people spending our tax $ on MS products are the same gov't people trying to keep MS in line.
If the US gov't is pro MS then why is the FTC, a federal agency, suing to stop the merger? That seems anti-MS to me. 🤷♂️
@rjejr The government is large, and full of people with different mindsets and philosophical views. The FTC in question is currently led by an individual with a long history of anti-market consolidation. She does have some impressive credentials, but a lot of it is based on quite strong anti-consolidation perspective that, so far, have not claimed any victories in court.
@MoorePs4 Do they really want on their big studios tide down producing a year to year franchise. If they are working on one, it by one their new acquisitions.
@knowles2 yes like you said one of their new acquisitions, they could even make a completely new team from different studios if they advertised for the job for a team passionate about those types of games
No comment, just want this fiasco over and one with already. I'm sick and tried of always hearing and reading about this in the news!!!
@Tharsman "have not claimed any victories in court."
Well I've been saying for years now that the class war is over, we lost, so I'll just add that to the list. 😥
@romenyc Dont get COD that worked for me.
@thefourfoldroot1 No no Microsoft are the underdog here which idiot came up with that anyway.
It's like fighting for Amazon against your local electronics store.
@Tharsman They protected the market quite well here and Microsoft is pro consumer font make me laugh.
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