The EU antitrust authorities ready to approve Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This was reported by Reuters which indicates 15 May 2023 as the date, the day on which the European authority should put an end to a discussion that has now been going on for a year and a half.
EU approves the acquisition of Activision by Microsoft, UK rejects: the picture of the situation
The upcoming clearance from the European Commission comes nearly three weeks after that the British competition authority has rejected the operationthe largest ever in the video game industry.
Meanwhile also iJapan approved the acquisition in MarchWhile the US Federal Trade Commission is considering the possibility of blocking it. The European Commission has set May 22 as the deadline. So, even if the go-ahead does not arrive next week, the go-ahead could officially arrive by the end of the month.
We recall that the operation from approx 69 billion dollars it was frozen for over a year as both US and European authorities expressed concerns. The acquisition, according to the indictment, would result in a anti-competitive practice. Activision Blizzard is in fact the publisher of popular video games, above all the franchise Call of Duty. According to the authorities, but also according to the competition Sonythe exclusive rights to the video games of the saga would lead to a market monopoly of the video games.