People with knowledge of the situation say that EU antitrust regulators are likely to accept Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) $69 billion purchase of Activision (ATVI.O) next week, with May 15 being the most likely date.
The European Commission is about to give the deal its stamp of approval. This comes almost three weeks after the UK’s competition authority blocked the deal, which was the biggest deal in gaming history, out of worry that it would make cloud gaming less competitive.
People with direct knowledge of the matter told in March that the EU’s antitrust watchdog is likely to let the deal go through because Microsoft made licensing deals with cloud streaming competitors like Nvidia, Ukraine’s Boosteroid, and Japan’s Ubitus.
Do you know that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is finally out? Nintendo just put out the first set of patch notes, which explain everything that’s in the game’s launch build:
It also has a deal with Nintendo that if it buys Activision, Call of Duty will be available on Nintendo’s game systems. The biggest platform for selling video games in the world, Steam, is owned by the U.S. company Valve Corp. It turned down a deal because it trusts Microsoft.
The Commission has set May 22 as the date by which it must make a ruling. Japan authorized the acquisition in March, whereas the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also attempting to prevent it.