Microsoft closes $69 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, the world's largest video game company - Bloomberg

Microsoft has finally received permission to close its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard after nearly two years of trying to get the deal approved by regulators in various countries.

Source. Bloomberg

As a result of this deal, Microsoft becomes the owner of such game brands as Call of Duty, Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft, Overwatch. The most profitable among these series is Call of Duty, which has sold 425 million copies and brought Activision Blizzard more than $30 billion.

The main obstacle to completing the deal has recently been the position of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). It expressed concern about the possible reduction of innovation and "distortion of competition" in the video game market.

As a result, the agreement had to be amended to include the transfer of certain rights to the trademarks of the French gaming company UbisoftEntertainment, which were being acquired by Microsoft.

Now the corporation can start restructuring Activision Blizzard at its own discretion, but Microsoft usually prefers to let the game studios it acquires determine the direction of the creative process.

Microsoft's competitor in the gaming market, Sony, opposed the deal because the American corporation could make the Call of Duty series exclusive to its Xbox console.

This problem was resolved when Microsoft signed an agreement that the games of this series will be available on the Sony PlayStation console for 10 years from the date of the deal.

Background. Earlier it was reported that Microsoft's deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion must be approved by the UK's CMA.