Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard King has been over a year and a half, but especially in the last two weeks, marathon with a large and select group of secondary workers who play a key role in the process in one way or another. So with their role, we experienced a rollercoaster in terms of the likelihood of the operation being completed, with moments where it seemed close compared to others where it seemed impossible. And in some cases, only a few weeks separated one extreme from the other.

To date, the outlook for those in Redmond is quite positive. Following a block by the UK CMA last April and a legal case launched in mid-June by the US FTC, which sought to temporarily block the purchase operation until the regulator issues its final decision, the outlook was somewhat bleak for Microsoftbecause he saw that the purchase operation was blocked in two such important territories as the United States and the United Kingdom.

Last week though there was a major turn of eventsand so it is that within days of the difference, a judge sided with Microsoft against the FTC, an appeals court also sided with the Redmonds, finally Sony agreed to sign an agreement with Microsoft on Call of Duty, the company and the CMA reached an agreement to suspend the legal process started in the UK to sit down for negotiations, and for dessert with the CMA, which was willing to significantly speed up the originally planned terms. By late Sunday, the purchase seemed imminent, even more so when we remember that the deadline set by the parties expired yesterday, July 18.

However, we must remember that we are talking about a contract signed between both parties, and therefore it was (and still is) susceptible to modification if both parties agree. And this happened because, as we can read in TechCrunch, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard extended the deadline by three months complete the operation to set the new limit on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.

Extension of time, however it’s not free for Microsoftand it is that the $3,000 million that was set as ABK’s payment if the operation is not completed has now been set at $3,500 million if the cancellation occurs after August 29th, and $4,000 million in the hypothetical event that it is canceled after September 15th. Today, however, most signs point to the completion of the purchase.

Now there are two main fronts. On the one hand the negotiations with the CMA, which is also showing signs of progress in the direction Microsoft wants, and on the other hand the negotiations from the FTC that now, with this new deadline, you can play the card of announcing the publication of your final opinion before the new deadlinewhich could condition the course of the operation.