What is this I hear?

Community General Discussion
1

Is it true that the merger they were going to have or the fact that this company was or already sold to Microsoft was blocked or am I not understanding something?

2

i, for one, am happy i can be 100% (?) sure i’ll never have to login to wow with a microsoft account :wink:

i also quit minecraft when they forced us to move from mojang accounts to microsoft accounts lol

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3

Last I heard the FTC and some group in Europe were still challenging it and negotiations are underway that could last into late this year.

4

Oh so it is true?

What does that mean for Activision Blizzard?

5

Was the move blocked? Last I heard it was still being investigated as a potential monopoly.

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6

It’s been blocked but there’s talking back and forth still.

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7

Currently, EU folks are forming a suit to cease the merger. This will likely take a year if not longer to sort out.

Probably nothing? Controversy aside ActiBlizz is just fine money wise.

8

The trial for the FTC vs Microsoft/ATVI merger is set for August 2023. Could it be settled before then? Possibly but so far it doesn’t look likely.

9

Last I heard it was just Sony trying to stop it.

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10

Something about Sony calling foul because it might ‘hurt’ competition all because Activison Blizzard owns CoD. Ironic considering Sony had done that long ago with Destiny.

I’m sure there’s MUCH more than that but from what I hear, lobbying in the genre of recreational entertainment that turned political somehow.

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11

Microsoft has already assured them Playstation will have CoD for the next 10 years, as well as making similar assurances to Steam and Nintendo.

12

Well aware! Sony probably doesn’t though. Plus, why would Microsoft shoot themselves in the foot by being exclusive anyways? Just to clarify, Sony is the same company that tried their damnest to deny any sense of Crossplay. So I dunno how much Sony truthfully wants to prevent something that doesn’t make any sense given they are the ones trying to stop Microsoft’s purchase behind the scene.

13

I love game pass, and I’m a proponent of getting wow on consoles one day. but more than that, I hate monopolies or near-monopolies so I’m against the acquisition as a consumer in general, even though this merger would be good for me personally.

14

Nothing if it fails. But there is probably a clause in the contract that Microsoft will probably have to pay Activision/Blizzard shareholders several billion dollars if the merger fails. Pretty common in this type of transaction.

Microsoft can ultimately complete the merger though it may be that they need to sell or spin off some assets or make specific guarantees to government entities in the settlement. Guarantees to competitors mean nothing in this sort of merger.

15

I don’t see anywhere that its been blocked. If that were the case, the arbitrage investors would be pulling ATVI one way or another.

16

I heard something about that but I’m not really sure what’s going on anymore.

17

I think the OP read something incorrectly and made an assumption.

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18

who knows… like one of those games that you played in school as a kid where the teacher told the first kid “The Sky is Blue” and by the time it reached the twentieth kid in class it was “Becky has zits” type of thing.