It seems like a lie, but soap opera Activision Blizzard’s acquisition of King by Microsoft may have closed. As we told you this morning, those from Redmond have received the long-awaited final approval from the CMA, the UK regulator, three weeks after the body gave its provisional approval, opening the period for possible accusations from third parties. Claims that, from what we can gather, either did not appear or were not considered relevant by the regulator.

So this term was already known to that extent A week ago we warned that the operation would end todaywhereas some internal sources have indicated that the operation will be immediate, despite the fact that as of today there are still five days left to complete the operation before the end of the new deadline agreed by the two sides in mid-July, and that it initially extended the marking by three months, when the operation was announced, in early January 2022.

So when the entire road is marked like this, we can only hope that one of the most desired moments in Redmond will happen today. An obvious example of this was that once the CMA approval was confirmed, the directors of both companies expressed particular satisfaction, and although they did not initially state that the confirmation would be within hours, it is more than evident that They already had everything ready to complete the operation immediately..

Does this mean the soap opera is over? As you will see, at the beginning of this message, I stated this conditionally, that is, in fact, there is still an important aspect that needs to be solved. As we already told you, a few days after the CMA granted its provisional approval, the US FTC, which was the other main regulator to oppose Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizard Kinf, reactivated an internal trial to decide whether the operation complies with the regulatory framework US or not.

So today is a day of celebration at Microsoft, but not necessarily the end of the problems. On the one hand, what I just mentioned is possible opposition from the FTC to the purchase once it is completed. But we also have to remember the complicated situation that Activision Blizzard King found itself in before the merger plans were announced, due to dire revelations about the company’s toxic work culture, a situation that still put CEO Bobby Kotick in the spotlight. attracting criticism from across the industry, including Phil Spencer.

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