If you’re a Call of Duty PlayStation gamer, there is no need to worry as Microsoft and PlayStation have signed an agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
This deal will allow PlayStation players to continue to have access to Call of Duty even though it will be owned by Microsoft. Moreover, this deal will not only alleviate the concerns of those in the industry but also put to rest any worries about Microsoft exclusively hoarding the games obtained through the Activision Blizzard acquisition solely for the Xbox.
The proposed acquisition by Microsoft of Activision Blizzard, one of the largest game developers in the world made headlines with the potential to be one of the most impactful deals in gaming. The acquisition is the reason why Sony and Microsoft have made the deal and will allow PlayStation gamers to keep playing Call of Duty for at least the next 10 years.
This is good news for gamers in Nigeria where it is reported that PlayStation occupies 90 per cent of the market share with just 10 per cent using Xbox. This comes as no surprise given that PlayStation is more common in homes, game shops and events in the country than Xbox.
For anyone that wants to know everything there is about the acquisition and why it has not yet been completed, here’s a timeline of the deal from January 2022 till now.
Everything you need to know about Microsoft’s deal with Activision Blizzard
In January 2022, Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Blizzard for $95.00 per share, in a transaction worth $68.7 billion. The deal if approved would make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue in the world, only behind Tencent and Sony. Moreover, Microsoft would now be home to Activision’s big titles such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, Candy Crush and WarCraft. Microsoft would also control its esports operations through Major League Gaming. Microsoft and Activision also agreed that if they could not get a complete agreement before July 18th 2023, either party could walk away from the transaction or choose to extend it until it is approved by the leading regulatory bodies.
The proposed acquisition from Microsoft received several approvals from regulatory bodies in China and the European Commission. The list of countries that have approved the acquisition includes:
- Saudi Arabia
- Brazil
- Serbia
- Chile
- Japan
- South Africa
- Ukraine
- European Union
- China
- South Korea
- Turkey
However, the U.S Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA) formally filed complaints to block the acquisition on the basis that the mere would hinder competition, especially in the cloud gaming sector. The rejection from both the U.S. and UK regulators is a big issue for Microsoft as these countries house two of its largest player bases for most games. There were also concerns that the acquisition could end up in Microsoft excluding games such as Call of Duty from Sony’s PlayStation. Microsoft signed several cloud gaming deals with small cloud gaming platforms like Ubitus and Booisteroid throughout 2022.
Regulatory bodies’ complaints against Microsoft’s acquisition
FTC, the U.S. Commission filed a temporary restraining order and injunction from a US federal district court on June 12, 2023, to stop the proposed acquisition from taking place. The FTC announced that Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have previously claimed that they are unable to finalize their agreement due to antitrust evaluations in other regions. However, Microsoft and Activision have not given any guarantees regarding their intention to uphold this stance. The US court granted a temporary injunction but denied a permanent injunction on July 11th to block the merger.
The UK regulators known as the Competition and Market Authority also blocked the deal from being completed in the U.K, citing fears over a monopoly by Microsoft of the cloud gaming industry in the future as well as a monopoly over games like Call of Duty. “The cloud allows UK gamers to avoid buying expensive gaming consoles and PCs and gives them much more flexibility and choice as to how they play,” the CMA said in a news release. “Allowing Microsoft to take such a strong position in the cloud gaming market just as it begins to grow rapidly would risk undermining the innovation that is crucial to the development of these opportunities.” Microsoft has already appealed this decision to the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal and is hopeful of a more favourable outcome.
Current Update on the Acquisition
With the FTC failing to get a permanent injunction to stop Microsoft’s acquisition in the U.S. and the recent agreement between Sony and Microsoft for Call of Duty, it is likely that the UK’s regulatory authority will also approve the deal. The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal have postponed its decision till August 29 2023 to allow the UK authority, CMA and Microsoft to negotiate a deal that will satisfy all parties.