CMA stands alone: China Approves Microsoft Acquisition of Activision

Since last year we have been living what is no longer the soap opera of the summer but of every month. Microsoft wants to buy Activision Blizzard King to add all its studios, games, and licenses, including Call of Duty, Diablo, and Crash Bandicoot to the Xbox catalog. Sony was against it from the start, and it all led to a permanent dispute, with lawsuits and the scrutiny of market regulators worldwide.

Recently, everything changed radically when United Kingdom’s CMA confirmed the decision to block an operation whose amount is close to 70 billion dollars, being the only party of all those involved that refuses to accept the purchase. Well, now we have a new participant, and it is not a minor one, since it is China that has given the green light to the purchase, becoming the 37th country to do so. Of course, we will have to wait and see what happens in the end.

Call of Duty, the key to it all

While the purchase would add dozens of studios and franchises to Xbox’s ranks, we’ve learned one thing over the past year: Call of Duty is the most important thing of all, and the main cause of concern in Sony’s offices. The FPS saga is an economic mother lode, generating impressive profits for PlayStation every year.

At times, we’ve felt that the whole operation is focused on Call of Duty. On the one hand, we’ve seen Microsoft hint that PlayStation could create “its own COD” in 10 years. On the other hand, the Japanese have not hesitated to turn down offers from Redmond.

Source | Tom Warren on Twitter