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Proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft

March 04, 2023

On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash. Under the terms of the agreement, which would be expected to close by Spring 2023 pending regulatory and shareholder approval, Microsoft would own Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, and King under the Xbox Game Studios brand.

Proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft
InitiatorMicrosoft
TargetActivision Blizzard
TypeFull acquisition
CostUS$68.7 billion
InitiatedJanuary 18, 2022
StatusPending

The acquisition would give Microsoft ownership of franchises including Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush. If approved by international regulators, it would be the largest video game acquisition in history. Both the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the European Commission (EC) formally filed complaints to block the acquisition on the basis that the merger would hinder competition.

Background

Activision Blizzard is one of the largest video game publishers in the world, with annual revenues of about $8.8 billion in 2021.[1] The company is composed of five business units:[2] Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, King,[3] Major League Gaming,[4] and Activision Blizzard Studios.[5][6] Among its assets are ownership of Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro from Activision's studios; Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, and Overwatch from Blizzard Entertainment; and Candy Crush Saga from King.[7][8]

Microsoft is a dominant player in computing software, and also makes the Xbox line of game consoles and operates Xbox Game Studios, a collection of developers to create first party titles. In March 2021, Microsoft closed on its acquisition of ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for an estimated $7.5 billion, making it one of the largest video game acquisitions by that time.[9]

History

Announcement

On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in an all-cash deal, or approximately $95 per share. Activision Blizzard's stock price jumped nearly 40% that day in pre-market trading. The deal would make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company in the world and the largest headquartered in the Americas, behind Chinese company Tencent and the Japanese conglomerate Sony. If closed, it would also be the most expensive video game-related acquisition in to date.[10] Goldman Sachs will serve as the financial advisor to Microsoft, and Allen & Company will be Activision's financial advisors. Simpson Thacher will serve as legal advisor for Microsoft while Skadden will serve as legal advisor for Activision.[11] The deal has been approved by both companies' board of directors and is expected to close in 2023 following international government regulatory review of the action.[12][13] Upon completion of the deal, Activision Blizzard would be a sibling entity to Xbox Game Studios under a new Microsoft Gaming division with Phil Spencer as its lead. The deal would also allow Microsoft to offer Activision Blizzard games on its Xbox Game Pass service.[13] Spencer also spoke about reviving some older Activision Blizzard franchises he himself enjoyed, mentioning series such as King's Quest, Guitar Hero and Hexen: Beyond Heretic.[14]

Kotick stated that he, Spencer, and Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella have had discussions in 2021 on their concern of the power of Tencent, NetEase, Apple, Inc. and Google, and that Activision Blizzard lacked the computation expertise in machine learning and data analytics that would be necessary to compete with these companies. According to Kotick, this led to the idea of Microsoft, which does have those capabilities, acquiring Activision Blizzard at an attractive price point.[15] In a statement released on Activision Blizzard's investor website, the company said its industry is the "most dynamic and exciting category of entertainment across all platforms" and that gaming will be the forefront of the development of the emerging metaverse. Some journalists saw this acquisition, and Microsoft's March 2021 acquisition of Bethesda Softworks, as a bid to compete against Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook.[16][12][13]

The announcement had come in the wake of events related to California Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Activision Blizzard, A lawsuit raised in July 2021 accusing the company of sexual harassment, employment discrimination and retaliation on the part of Activision Blizzard.[17][18] Allegations had expanded by November 2021 to include actions that Activision Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick had done.[19][20] The timing of the acquisition was reported by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News to be in response to the ongoing DFEH lawsuit. Reports from both newspapers stated that Activision Blizzard had been considering a buyout from other companies, including Facebook parent company Meta Platforms, due to the weaker than expected financial performance of their latest game releases and production delays.[21][22][23] Based on SEC filings related to the merger, Microsoft approached Activision Blizzard again in the days immediately following the November 2021 Wall Street Journal report regarding a buyout.[24] While Kotick had been hesitant about selling the company, the board had gone ahead with the deal as they continued to fear the ongoing impact of the lawsuit while Kotick had remains on the board[21][23] The buyout would provide a graceful exit for Kotick in the future, ranging in $252.2-292.9 million over most scenarios.[21][23][25]

According to official announcements, under the deal Kotick will remain the CEO of Activision Blizzard,[26][27][28][29] and is expected to keep the position while the deal goes through regulatory processes, as Activision Blizzard remains independent from Microsoft until the deal closes.[30] According to The Wall Street Journal, Kotick "will depart once the deal closes" under Microsoft's management, while Kotick said in an interview that he has an interest in remaining in the company.[19][31][32][15] Microsoft has yet to speak directly about the Activision Blizzard lawsuit following news of the acquisition, however the company announced a week prior that it would be reviewing its own sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies.[33]

Activision Blizzard's shareholders approved of the acquisition near-unanimously in April 2022.[34]

Regulatory response

Due to the size of the acquisition, the deal is being reviewed by several government commerce bodies for antitrust concerns. As of December 2022, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Serbia and Chile have approved the acquisition with zero regulatory concessions for Microsoft.[35][36]

U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

In the United States, the acquisition was reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rather than traditionally by the U.S. Department of Justice, as the agency had raised more concerns over mergers and acquisitions in the Big Tech sector in the last decade.[37] U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Cory Booker expressed their concerns about the merger to the FTC as part of the FTC's investigation, saying that both companies have "failed to protect the rights and dignity of their workers" and that the merger should be opposed if "the transaction is likely to enhance monopsony power and worsen the negotiating position between workers and the parties."[38] The FTC formally stated its intention to block the acquisition as proposed on December 8, 2022. The FTC expressed concern that the acquisition would harm consumers of Activision Blizzard's games and give Microsoft too much control of certain parts of the industry, such as cloud gaming. The FTC also pointed to the acquisition of Zenimax, which the FTC claimed that Microsoft had agreed to a concession from the European Union to not make their games exclusive to the Xbox and later broke.[39][40] In a statement made to Axios' Stephan Totilo, the European Commission stated that they had cleared Microsoft's acquisition of Zenimax unconditionally as they saw no "material impact" on the gaming market even if Microsoft made Zenimax's titles exclusive.[41]

Microsoft responded to the FTC's complaint that Sony itself is one of the largest platforms with exclusive titles that contractually cannot be made for Xbox. They also said they still plan to offer content for multiplayer Bethesda games like Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 for all platforms to avoid undercutting the playerbase. Microsoft also initially challenged the constitutionality of the FTC due to the ability for the Commissioner to be removed by the President at will, and the their use of administrative law judges to initially review cases, both which have founding in recent Supreme Court cases,[42] but removed this language in an amended response, sticking to the video game market.[43] In February 2023, the FTC denied a request by Sony to drop a subpoena filed by Microsoft, requesting internal documentation from Sony related to their third-party exclusivity deals.[44]

European Commission

After receiving a formal notification by Microsoft on September 30, 2022, the European Commission began its first phase review of the acquisition under the EU merger law.[45][46] The Commission sent out a questionnaire to several game industry firms to ask them about the potential impact of the acquisition on their livelihood, including if Microsoft does opt to lock rivals out of Activision games in the future.[47] The Commission announced on November 8, 2022, that it will conduct an additional review of the merger "to ensure that the gaming ecosystem remains vibrant to the benefit of users in a sector that is evolving at a fast pace."[48] The results of this review are expected by April 2023.[49]

The EC filed its formal complaint against the acquisition on February 3, 2023. The EC said they were considered that Microsoft may be "incentivized to block access to Activision’s popular Call of Duty franchise", which could lead to "reduce competition in the markets for the distribution of console and PC video games, leading to higher prices, lower quality and less innovation for console game distributors, which may, in turn, be passed on to consumers."[50] Microsoft met with the EC regulators on February 21, 2023, announcing that they had secured a ten-year agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to that platform alongside the Xbox release, as well as a separate ten-year agreement providing Call of Duty and other first-party Microsoft games with NVidia as part of their GeForce Now streaming service.[51]

UK Competition and Markets Authority

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority stated its intent to perform a higher-level review of the acquisition in August 2022. The phase 1 ruling, issued on September 1, 2022, said that the merger "may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom".[52][53] Preliminary findings of phase 2 of the investigation was reported on February 8, 2023, concluding that the acquisition "could result in higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation for UK gamers", as well as less competition in the console and cloud gaming spaces. The CMA has recommended that Activision should at least divest the Call of Duty franchise.[54] The full report is expected on April 26, 2023.

Others

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reviewed potential claims that investors close to Kotick engaged in insider trading prior to the acquisition announcement.[55] Activision Blizzard said they would fully cooperate with the SEC's review.[56]

The deal is also seeing review in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere.[53][57] In December 2022, it was announced Chile's regulatory authority (Fiscalia Nacional Economica), had released its ruling on the acquisition and had voted to approve the deal in Phase 1.[58]

Legal challenges

The New York City Employees' Retirement System, which are shareholders of Activision Blizzard, sued the company in April 2022, arguing that the company had made the acquisition deal quickly with Microsoft as to try to cover up the misdoings of Kotick that had been uncovered as part of the ongoing DCEH lawsuit and escape any liability.[59]

Sjunde AP-Fonden, a Swedish-government run pension fund with investments in Activision-Blizzard, filed a lawsuit in November 2022 within the U.S. court system against Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard of collusion in establishing the deal. The lawsuit asserts that because of Activision-Blizzard's weakened position resulting from the workplace harassment lawsuit from the California DFEH, that Microsoft negotiated with Kotick and Activision-Blizzard to buy the company at a reduced price. The lawsuit also named Kotick for using the deal to cover up his alleged misconduct related to the DFEH suit.[60]

A group of gamers filed suit against Microsoft in December 2022 to block the merger under the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 which enables consumers to file such lawsuits. The suit argues that should the merger go through, Microsoft's combined power would disrupt the video game marketplace, giving Microsoft the capability to outpace competitors and take a stronger hold.[61] Microsoft failed to have the case dismissed in January 2023, and arguments related to a preliminary discussion will be presented to the judge in March 2023.[62]

Reactions and commentary

Several Activision Blizzard employees have expressed cautious optimism with respect to the deal, with the ABK Workers Alliance, a group of employees pushing for unionization in the wake of the DFEH lawsuit, saying the acquisition did "not change the goals" of the Alliance.[63][64][65] A report by Business Insider suggested several Microsoft employees have raised their concern on the deal with respect to the sexual harassment scandals and Activision Blizzard workplace culture, hoping for "concrete steps to make sure we aren't introducing a dangerous and unwelcome culture." On January 19, 2022, World Bank president David Malpass criticized the acquisition, contrasting the acquisition price with the smaller amount of bond financing available to developing countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.[66]

Concerns on Microsoft's potential ownership of the Call of Duty franchise, which has sold over 400 million units by April 2021 and considered one of the most valuable properties within the video game industry,[67] have been raised by Sony Interactive Entertainment and regulators. Shortly after the acquisition announcements, Sony had stated that they expect Microsoft to honor all of Activision Blizzard's publishing agreements for multiplatform games, assuring that Call of Duty would remain available on the PlayStation platform and not made a console-exclusive title. Spencer and Microsoft president Brad Smith reassured that Microsoft will continue these existing agreements and expressed their desire to keep Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard games on PlayStation beyond the terms of these agreements, as well as explore the opportunity to bring these games to the Nintendo consoles.[68][69][70][71]

Around September 2022, Xbox head Phil Spencer said Microsoft had written a letter to Sony in January, affirming their commitment to maintain Call of Duty on the PlayStation "several years" beyond the current contractual agreements set before the acquisition, which are said to last until 2024 according to Bloomberg.[72][73] Spencer said their offer to Sony "goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements".[74] Sony's president Jim Ryan responded to Spencer by stating that in their commitment, Microsoft only stated their intent to keep Call of Duty for three more years beyond the current contract terms, and that "their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers. We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft's proposal undermines this principle."[74] Public documents filed as part of the UK's investigation revealed that Microsoft would be limited by prior contractual agreements between Sony and Activision to provide Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass for several years.[75]

Microsoft stated that it had written to Sony on November 11, 2022, to agree to a ten-year commitment for Call of Duty to remain non-exclusive to Xbox.[76] Sony further stated that Microsoft's intent with the acquisition is to remove Sony and PlayStation from competition with Microsoft and instead have the PlayStation platform more comparable to the Nintendo Switch, which Sony stated is based on taking up a family-friendly position and not attempting to compete with adult-rated games like Call of Duty.[77] Besides the commitment to Sony, Microsoft also had committed in December 2022 to a similar ten-year deal to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo's platforms, further attempting to prove to regulators they had no intent to make the title exclusive to Xbox or Windows.[78]

Spencer further had stated that Microsoft's intent with the acquisition is access to Activision's mobile games, which would include those by its King division such as Candy Crush Saga. He said that while there are 200 million game console users worldwide, the mobile market reaches over 3 billion people.[79]

References

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March 04, 2023
proposed, acquisition, activision, blizzard, microsoft, january, 2022, microsoft, announced, intent, acquire, activision, blizzard, billion, cash, under, terms, agreement, which, would, expected, close, spring, 2023, pending, regulatory, shareholder, approval,. On January 18 2022 Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for 68 7 billion in cash Under the terms of the agreement which would be expected to close by Spring 2023 pending regulatory and shareholder approval Microsoft would own Activision Blizzard Entertainment and King under the Xbox Game Studios brand Proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by MicrosoftInitiatorMicrosoftTargetActivision BlizzardTypeFull acquisitionCostUS 68 7 billionInitiatedJanuary 18 2022StatusPendingThe acquisition would give Microsoft ownership of franchises including Call of Duty Crash Bandicoot Spyro Warcraft StarCraft Diablo Overwatch and Candy Crush If approved by international regulators it would be the largest video game acquisition in history Both the U S Federal Trade Commission FTC and the European Commission EC formally filed complaints to block the acquisition on the basis that the merger would hinder competition Contents 1 Background 2 History 2 1 Announcement 3 Regulatory response 3 1 U S Federal Trade Commission FTC 3 2 European Commission 3 3 UK Competition and Markets Authority 3 4 Others 3 5 Legal challenges 4 Reactions and commentary 5 ReferencesBackground EditActivision Blizzard is one of the largest video game publishers in the world with annual revenues of about 8 8 billion in 2021 1 The company is composed of five business units 2 Activision Publishing Blizzard Entertainment King 3 Major League Gaming 4 and Activision Blizzard Studios 5 6 Among its assets are ownership of Call of Duty Crash Bandicoot and Spyro from Activision s studios Warcraft Diablo StarCraft and Overwatch from Blizzard Entertainment and Candy Crush Saga from King 7 8 Microsoft is a dominant player in computing software and also makes the Xbox line of game consoles and operates Xbox Game Studios a collection of developers to create first party titles In March 2021 Microsoft closed on its acquisition of ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for an estimated 7 5 billion making it one of the largest video game acquisitions by that time 9 History EditAnnouncement Edit On January 18 2022 Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for 68 7 billion in an all cash deal or approximately 95 per share Activision Blizzard s stock price jumped nearly 40 that day in pre market trading The deal would make Microsoft the third largest gaming company in the world and the largest headquartered in the Americas behind Chinese company Tencent and the Japanese conglomerate Sony If closed it would also be the most expensive video game related acquisition in to date 10 Goldman Sachs will serve as the financial advisor to Microsoft and Allen amp Company will be Activision s financial advisors Simpson Thacher will serve as legal advisor for Microsoft while Skadden will serve as legal advisor for Activision 11 The deal has been approved by both companies board of directors and is expected to close in 2023 following international government regulatory review of the action 12 13 Upon completion of the deal Activision Blizzard would be a sibling entity to Xbox Game Studios under a new Microsoft Gaming division with Phil Spencer as its lead The deal would also allow Microsoft to offer Activision Blizzard games on its Xbox Game Pass service 13 Spencer also spoke about reviving some older Activision Blizzard franchises he himself enjoyed mentioning series such as King s Quest Guitar Hero and Hexen Beyond Heretic 14 Kotick stated that he Spencer and Microsoft s CEO Satya Nadella have had discussions in 2021 on their concern of the power of Tencent NetEase Apple Inc and Google and that Activision Blizzard lacked the computation expertise in machine learning and data analytics that would be necessary to compete with these companies According to Kotick this led to the idea of Microsoft which does have those capabilities acquiring Activision Blizzard at an attractive price point 15 In a statement released on Activision Blizzard s investor website the company said its industry is the most dynamic and exciting category of entertainment across all platforms and that gaming will be the forefront of the development of the emerging metaverse Some journalists saw this acquisition and Microsoft s March 2021 acquisition of Bethesda Softworks as a bid to compete against Meta Platforms formerly known as Facebook 16 12 13 The announcement had come in the wake of events related to California Department of Fair Employment and Housing v Activision Blizzard A lawsuit raised in July 2021 accusing the company of sexual harassment employment discrimination and retaliation on the part of Activision Blizzard 17 18 Allegations had expanded by November 2021 to include actions that Activision Blizzard s CEO Bobby Kotick had done 19 20 The timing of the acquisition was reported by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News to be in response to the ongoing DFEH lawsuit Reports from both newspapers stated that Activision Blizzard had been considering a buyout from other companies including Facebook parent company Meta Platforms due to the weaker than expected financial performance of their latest game releases and production delays 21 22 23 Based on SEC filings related to the merger Microsoft approached Activision Blizzard again in the days immediately following the November 2021 Wall Street Journal report regarding a buyout 24 While Kotick had been hesitant about selling the company the board had gone ahead with the deal as they continued to fear the ongoing impact of the lawsuit while Kotick had remains on the board 21 23 The buyout would provide a graceful exit for Kotick in the future ranging in 252 2 292 9 million over most scenarios 21 23 25 According to official announcements under the deal Kotick will remain the CEO of Activision Blizzard 26 27 28 29 and is expected to keep the position while the deal goes through regulatory processes as Activision Blizzard remains independent from Microsoft until the deal closes 30 According to The Wall Street Journal Kotick will depart once the deal closes under Microsoft s management while Kotick said in an interview that he has an interest in remaining in the company 19 31 32 15 Microsoft has yet to speak directly about the Activision Blizzard lawsuit following news of the acquisition however the company announced a week prior that it would be reviewing its own sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies 33 Activision Blizzard s shareholders approved of the acquisition near unanimously in April 2022 34 Regulatory response EditDue to the size of the acquisition the deal is being reviewed by several government commerce bodies for antitrust concerns As of December 2022 Saudi Arabia Brazil Serbia and Chile have approved the acquisition with zero regulatory concessions for Microsoft 35 36 U S Federal Trade Commission FTC Edit In the United States the acquisition was reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission FTC rather than traditionally by the U S Department of Justice as the agency had raised more concerns over mergers and acquisitions in the Big Tech sector in the last decade 37 U S Senators Elizabeth Warren Bernie Sanders Sheldon Whitehouse and Cory Booker expressed their concerns about the merger to the FTC as part of the FTC s investigation saying that both companies have failed to protect the rights and dignity of their workers and that the merger should be opposed if the transaction is likely to enhance monopsony power and worsen the negotiating position between workers and the parties 38 The FTC formally stated its intention to block the acquisition as proposed on December 8 2022 The FTC expressed concern that the acquisition would harm consumers of Activision Blizzard s games and give Microsoft too much control of certain parts of the industry such as cloud gaming The FTC also pointed to the acquisition of Zenimax which the FTC claimed that Microsoft had agreed to a concession from the European Union to not make their games exclusive to the Xbox and later broke 39 40 In a statement made to Axios Stephan Totilo the European Commission stated that they had cleared Microsoft s acquisition of Zenimax unconditionally as they saw no material impact on the gaming market even if Microsoft made Zenimax s titles exclusive 41 Microsoft responded to the FTC s complaint that Sony itself is one of the largest platforms with exclusive titles that contractually cannot be made for Xbox They also said they still plan to offer content for multiplayer Bethesda games like Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 for all platforms to avoid undercutting the playerbase Microsoft also initially challenged the constitutionality of the FTC due to the ability for the Commissioner to be removed by the President at will and the their use of administrative law judges to initially review cases both which have founding in recent Supreme Court cases 42 but removed this language in an amended response sticking to the video game market 43 In February 2023 the FTC denied a request by Sony to drop a subpoena filed by Microsoft requesting internal documentation from Sony related to their third party exclusivity deals 44 European Commission Edit After receiving a formal notification by Microsoft on September 30 2022 the European Commission began its first phase review of the acquisition under the EU merger law 45 46 The Commission sent out a questionnaire to several game industry firms to ask them about the potential impact of the acquisition on their livelihood including if Microsoft does opt to lock rivals out of Activision games in the future 47 The Commission announced on November 8 2022 that it will conduct an additional review of the merger to ensure that the gaming ecosystem remains vibrant to the benefit of users in a sector that is evolving at a fast pace 48 The results of this review are expected by April 2023 49 The EC filed its formal complaint against the acquisition on February 3 2023 The EC said they were considered that Microsoft may be incentivized to block access to Activision s popular Call of Duty franchise which could lead to reduce competition in the markets for the distribution of console and PC video games leading to higher prices lower quality and less innovation for console game distributors which may in turn be passed on to consumers 50 Microsoft met with the EC regulators on February 21 2023 announcing that they had secured a ten year agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to that platform alongside the Xbox release as well as a separate ten year agreement providing Call of Duty and other first party Microsoft games with NVidia as part of their GeForce Now streaming service 51 UK Competition and Markets Authority Edit The UK s Competition and Markets Authority stated its intent to perform a higher level review of the acquisition in August 2022 The phase 1 ruling issued on September 1 2022 said that the merger may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom 52 53 Preliminary findings of phase 2 of the investigation was reported on February 8 2023 concluding that the acquisition could result in higher prices fewer choices and less innovation for UK gamers as well as less competition in the console and cloud gaming spaces The CMA has recommended that Activision should at least divest the Call of Duty franchise 54 The full report is expected on April 26 2023 Others Edit The U S Securities and Exchange Commission SEC reviewed potential claims that investors close to Kotick engaged in insider trading prior to the acquisition announcement 55 Activision Blizzard said they would fully cooperate with the SEC s review 56 The deal is also seeing review in Japan Australia New Zealand and elsewhere 53 57 In December 2022 it was announced Chile s regulatory authority Fiscalia Nacional Economica had released its ruling on the acquisition and had voted to approve the deal in Phase 1 58 Legal challenges Edit The New York City Employees Retirement System which are shareholders of Activision Blizzard sued the company in April 2022 arguing that the company had made the acquisition deal quickly with Microsoft as to try to cover up the misdoings of Kotick that had been uncovered as part of the ongoing DCEH lawsuit and escape any liability 59 Sjunde AP Fonden a Swedish government run pension fund with investments in Activision Blizzard filed a lawsuit in November 2022 within the U S court system against Microsoft and Activision Blizzard of collusion in establishing the deal The lawsuit asserts that because of Activision Blizzard s weakened position resulting from the workplace harassment lawsuit from the California DFEH that Microsoft negotiated with Kotick and Activision Blizzard to buy the company at a reduced price The lawsuit also named Kotick for using the deal to cover up his alleged misconduct related to the DFEH suit 60 A group of gamers filed suit against Microsoft in December 2022 to block the merger under the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 which enables consumers to file such lawsuits The suit argues that should the merger go through Microsoft s combined power would disrupt the video game marketplace giving Microsoft the capability to outpace competitors and take a stronger hold 61 Microsoft failed to have the case dismissed in January 2023 and arguments related to a preliminary discussion will be presented to the judge in March 2023 62 Reactions and commentary EditSeveral Activision Blizzard employees have expressed cautious optimism with respect to the deal with the ABK Workers Alliance a group of employees pushing for unionization in the wake of the DFEH lawsuit saying the acquisition did not change the goals of the Alliance 63 64 65 A report by Business Insider suggested several Microsoft employees have raised their concern on the deal with respect to the sexual harassment scandals and Activision Blizzard workplace culture hoping for concrete steps to make sure we aren t introducing a dangerous and unwelcome culture On January 19 2022 World Bank president David Malpass criticized the acquisition contrasting the acquisition price with the smaller amount of bond financing available to developing countries during the COVID 19 pandemic 66 Concerns on Microsoft s potential ownership of the Call of Duty franchise which has sold over 400 million units by April 2021 and considered one of the most valuable properties within the video game industry 67 have been raised by Sony Interactive Entertainment and regulators Shortly after the acquisition announcements Sony had stated that they expect Microsoft to honor all of Activision Blizzard s publishing agreements for multiplatform games assuring that Call of Duty would remain available on the PlayStation platform and not made a console exclusive title Spencer and Microsoft president Brad Smith reassured that Microsoft will continue these existing agreements and expressed their desire to keep Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard games on PlayStation beyond the terms of these agreements as well as explore the opportunity to bring these games to the Nintendo consoles 68 69 70 71 Around September 2022 Xbox head Phil Spencer said Microsoft had written a letter to Sony in January affirming their commitment to maintain Call of Duty on the PlayStation several years beyond the current contractual agreements set before the acquisition which are said to last until 2024 according to Bloomberg 72 73 Spencer said their offer to Sony goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements 74 Sony s president Jim Ryan responded to Spencer by stating that in their commitment Microsoft only stated their intent to keep Call of Duty for three more years beyond the current contract terms and that their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience and Microsoft s proposal undermines this principle 74 Public documents filed as part of the UK s investigation revealed that Microsoft would be limited by prior contractual agreements between Sony and Activision to provide Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass for several years 75 Microsoft stated that it had written to Sony on November 11 2022 to agree to a ten year commitment for Call of Duty to remain non exclusive to Xbox 76 Sony further stated that Microsoft s intent with the acquisition is to remove Sony and PlayStation from competition with Microsoft and instead have the PlayStation platform more comparable to the Nintendo Switch which Sony stated is based on taking up a family friendly position and not attempting to compete with adult rated games like Call of Duty 77 Besides the commitment to Sony Microsoft also had committed in December 2022 to a similar ten year deal to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo s platforms further attempting to prove to regulators they had no intent to make the title exclusive to Xbox or Windows 78 Spencer further had stated that Microsoft s intent with the acquisition is access to Activision s mobile games which would include those by its King division such as Candy Crush Saga He said that while there are 200 million game console users worldwide the mobile market reaches over 3 billion people 79 References Edit Activision Blizzard 2021 Annual Report Activision Blizzard April 29 2022 Archived from the original on June 11 2022 Retrieved June 11 2022 Activision Blizzard Our Company activisionblizzard com Archived from the original on January 18 2016 Retrieved January 11 2016 Activision Blizzard to Buy King Digital Maker of Candy Crush The New York Times November 2 2015 Archived from the original on November 6 2015 Retrieved November 3 2015 Activision Blizzard beefs up e sports muscle CNET Archived from the original on January 3 2016 Retrieved January 4 2016 Morris Chris October 22 2015 Why Activision Blizzard just launched a new eSports division Fortune Archived from the original on November 10 2015 Retrieved November 13 2015 Goldfarb Andrew November 6 2015 Call of Duty Movie Skylander TV Show Headline New Activision Blizzard Film Studio IGN Archived from the original on November 6 2015 Retrieved November 6 2015 Byrd Matthew January 18 2022 Every Activision Blizzard Franchise Now Owned by Xbox Den of Geek Retrieved September 5 2022 The 13 Biggest Franchises Microsoft Will Own After the Xbox and Activision Deal IGN Brasil in Brazilian Portuguese January 20 2022 Retrieved September 5 2022 Robinson Andy March 9 2021 Microsoft confirms its Bethesda acquisition is complete and some games will be exclusive Video Games Chronicle Retrieved March 9 2021 Why Microsoft is splashing 69bn on video games January 22 2022 via The Economist Jackson Sierra January 18 2022 Simpson Thacher Skadden drafted for Microsoft s 69 bln Activision buy Reuters Retrieved June 19 2022 a b Kovach Steve January 18 2022 Microsoft to buy Activision in 68 7 billion all cash deal CNBC Archived from the original on January 18 2022 Retrieved January 18 2022 a b c Warren Tom January 18 2022 Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for 68 7 billion The Verge Archived from the original on January 18 2022 Retrieved January 18 2022 Park Gene January 20 2022 Xbox CEO Phil Spencer on reviving old Activision games as Microsoft positions itself as tech s gaming company Washington Post Archived from the original on January 21 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 a b Takahashi Dean January 18 2022 Bobby Kotick interview Why Activision Blizzard did the deal with Microsoft Venture Beat Archived from the original on January 20 2022 Retrieved January 18 2022 Activision Blizzard Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone across every device investor activision com Archived from the original on January 21 2022 Retrieved January 18 2022 Allsup Maeve July 21 2021 Activision Blizzard Sued Over Frat Boy culture Harassment Bloomberg Law Archived from the original on August 2 2021 Retrieved July 22 2021 California sues Activision Blizzard over alleged harassment BBC July 21 2021 Archived from the original on July 27 2021 Retrieved July 27 2021 a b Needleman Kirsten Grind Ben Fritz and Sarah E November 16 2021 Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Knew for Years About Sexual Misconduct Allegations at Videogame Giant Wall Street Journal ISSN 0099 9660 Archived from the original on November 16 2021 Retrieved January 18 2022 Schreier Jason Molot Clara November 16 2021 Activision s CEO Is Embattled by Staff and Investors Bloomberg News Archived from the original on November 30 2021 Retrieved January 18 2022 a b c Grind Kirsten Lombardo Cara Fritz Ben January 19 2022 Activision Blizzard s Workplace Problems Spurred 75 Billion Microsoft Deal The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on January 19 2022 Retrieved January 19 2022 Bass Dina Lanxon Nate January 18 2022 Microsoft Buys Scandal Tainted Activision in Bet on Metaverse Bloomberg News Archived from the original on January 18 2022 Retrieved January 19 2022 a b c Bass Dina Baker Liana January 19 2022 Activision Misconduct Fallout Prompted Microsoft to Pursue Deal Bloomberg News Archived from the original on January 19 2022 Retrieved January 19 2022 Novet Jordan February 18 2022 Microsoft s talks with Activision started days after report on sexual misconduct sent stock tumbling CNBC Retrieved February 18 2022 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD INC DEF 14A www sec gov Archived from the original on January 20 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 Bobby Kotick will remain as Activision Blizzard CEO after Microsoft acquisition VGC January 18 2022 Archived from the original on January 18 2022 Retrieved January 18 2022 Skrebels Joe January 18 2022 Bobby Kotick Will Remain Activision Blizzard CEO After Xbox Acquisition IGN Archived from the original on January 18 2022 Retrieved January 18 2022 Myers Maddy January 18 2022 Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard for 68 7B Polygon Archived from the original on January 18 2022 Retrieved January 18 2022 Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone across every device Stories January 18 2022 Archived from the original on January 21 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 Mackay Liam January 18 2022 Microsoft to acquire Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard Charlie INTEL Archived from the original on January 18 2022 Retrieved January 18 2022 Austin Wood January 18 2022 Bobby Kotick will remain Activision Blizzard CEO but reports suggest he may leave once Microsoft deal closes gamesradar Archived from the original on January 20 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 Kaplan Anna Activision Blizzard CEO Kotick Reportedly Leaving Company After Microsoft Deal Closes Forbes Archived from the original on January 20 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 Nightingale Ed January 18 2022 Microsoft to review its sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies Eurogamer Archived from the original on January 18 2022 Retrieved January 18 2022 Activision Blizzard shareholders approve 68 7 bln Microsoft deal Reuters April 28 2022 Retrieved April 29 2022 Yun Chee Foo November 28 2022 Exclusive Microsoft likely to offer EU concessions soon in Activision deal sources Reuters Retrieved November 28 2022 FNE aprueba la adquisicion de Activision Blizzard por parte de Microsoft Corporation Fiscalia Nacional Economica December 29 2022 McLaughlin David February 1 2022 Microsoft Deal for Activision to Be Reviewed by FTC in U S Bloomberg News Archived from the original on February 1 2022 Retrieved February 1 2022 Carpenter Nicole April 1 2022 Senators push for FTC review of Microsoft and Activision s 69B deal Polygon Retrieved April 1 2022 FTC Seeks to Block Microsoft Corp s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc Press release U S Federal Trade Commission December 8 2022 Retrieved December 8 2022 Zakrzewski Cat Liao Shannon December 8 2022 FTC sues to block Microsoft s acquisition of game giant Activision Washington Post Retrieved December 8 2022 Batchelor James December 12 2022 Did Microsoft break its promise to the EU about Bethesda exclusives For The Record GamesIndustry biz Retrieved December 12 2022 https www gamesindustry biz microsoft calls ftc unconstitutional Purdy Kevin January 6 2023 Microsoft admits it should not have argued the FTC is unconstitutional Ars Technica Retrieved January 6 2023 Scullion Chris March 2 2023 The FTC has told PlayStation it has to reveal its third party exclusivity deals Video Games Chronicle Retrieved March 2 2023 Fineman Joshua September 30 2022 Microsoft files planned Activision acquisition with European antitrust regulator Seeking Alpha Retrieved September 30 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Tolbert Samuel September 30 2022 Microsoft s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is now being checked by European Commission Windows Central Retrieved January 14 2023 Chee Foo Yun October 7 2022 EU wants to know if Microsoft will block rivals after Activision deal Reuters Retrieved October 7 2022 EU s Call of Duty Probe Microsoft Activision Blizzard deal AP NEWS November 8 2022 Retrieved November 8 2022 M 10646 European Commission Retrieved January 14 2023 Stolton Samual February 3 2023 EU issues antitrust warning against Microsoft s 69 billion Activision bid Politico Retrieved February 3 2023 Harrison Gayle February 21 2023 Microsoft enters 10 year agreement with Nvidia and Nintendo in fight to save Activision deal CNN Retrieved February 21 2023 Coleman Martin September 1 2022 The CMA is investigating the anticipated acquisition by Microsoft Corporation of Activision Blizzard Inc Competition and Markets Authority Retrieved September 1 2022 a b O Brien Matt Chan Kelvin September 1 2022 Microsoft s Activision Blizzard deal gets global scrutiny AP News Retrieved September 16 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Cryer Hirun February 8 2023 Microsoft s Activision Blizzard acquisition would result in less competition UK government rules GamesRadar Retrieved February 8 2023 Michaels Dave Trachtenberg Jeffrey March 8 2022 U S Probes Trade by Barry Diller David Geffen Before Big Merger The Wall Street Journal Retrieved April 16 2022 Browning Kellen April 15 2022 Activision tells regulators it will cooperate with insider trading investigation The New York Times Retrieved April 16 2022 Stolton Samuel October 31 2022 EU to launch advanced Microsoft Activision probe POLITICO Retrieved November 2 2022 D Angelo William December 29 2022 Chile Approves Microsoft s Activision Blizzard Acquisition VGChartz Retrieved December 29 2022 Totilo Stephen May 4 2022 New York City sues Activision targeting CEO Bobby Kotick Axios Retrieved May 4 2022 Leonard Mike November 14 2022 Activision s 69 Billion Sale to Microsoft Draws Challenge Bloomberg Law Retrieved November 27 2022 Jackson Claire December 20 2022 Gamers Are Suing Microsoft To Thwart Its Merger With Activision Kotaku Retrieved December 20 2022 Scarcella Mike January 20 2023 Microsoft loses bid to pause gamers lawsuit over Activision deal Reuters Retrieved January 21 2023 Nightingale Ed January 19 2022 Activision Blizzard staff react to Microsoft buyout news Eurogamer Archived from the original on January 20 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 Knoop Joseph January 18 2022 The Video Game Industry Reacts to Microsoft Buying Activision Blizzard King IGN Archived from the original on January 20 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 Activision Blizzard workers cautiously optimistic after Microsoft acquisition Upcomer January 18 2022 Archived from the original on January 20 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 Lawder David January 20 2022 World Bank chief takes swipe at Microsoft s 69 bln gaming deal as poor countries struggle Reuters Archived from the original on January 20 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 Makuch Eddit April 22 2021 Call Of Duty Has Now Sold 400 Million Copies To Date GameSpot Retrieved September 7 2022 Young Georgina January 21 2022 Microsoft confirms its intent to keep Call Of Duty on PlayStation NME Archived from the original on January 21 2022 Retrieved January 21 2022 Jie Yang January 20 2022 Sony Expects Microsoft to Keep Activision Games Multiplatform The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on January 20 2022 Retrieved January 20 2022 Skrebels Joe February 9 2022 Microsoft Confirms Activision Blizzard Will Release Games on PlayStation Beyond Existing Agreements IGN Retrieved February 9 2022 Scullion Chris February 10 2022 Microsoft s president says we want to bring Call of Duty to Switch Video Games Chronicle Retrieved February 10 2022 Warren Tom September 2 2022 Microsoft will keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for several more years beyond existing deal The Verge Retrieved September 10 2022 Schreier Jason January 25 2022 Activision s Next Three Call of Duty Games Will Be on PlayStation and Xbox Bloomberg News Retrieved September 10 2022 a b Dring Christopher September 7 2022 PlayStation Xbox s Call of Duty offer was inadequate on many levels GamesIndustry biz Retrieved September 10 2022 Wolens Joshua October 21 2022 Microsoft says a Sony deal with Activision stops Call of Duty coming to Game Pass PC Gamer Retrieved October 21 2022 McCabe David Weise Karen November 21 2022 Can Big Tech Get Bigger Microsoft Presses Governments to Say Yes The New York Times Robinson Andy November 23 2022 Sony claims Microsoft s true strategy is to make PlayStation like Nintendo Video Games Chronicle Retrieved November 24 2022 Welsh Oli December 7 2022 Microsoft signs deal to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo for 10 years Polygon Retrieved December 7 2022 Kuhnke Oisin October 27 2022 Phil Spencer Says Activision Blizzard Deal Is About Mobile Not Making Call Of Duty Exclusive GameSpot Retrieved October 27 2022 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft amp oldid 1142578766, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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