At TGS (Tokyo Game Show), I asked Phil Spencer if he plans to build more studios in Japan, or just focus on relationships with publishers.

 He told me they wanted to expand their studio in Japan, but that wasn't all. They hope to expand their business "in other forms."

Tech4gamers analyzed that Spencer’s ambition in Japan is not just to establish a studio, Microsoft’s goal is “comprehensive expansion.”

In September this year, a batch of documents related to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard were disclosed. One of the testimonies involved Xbox director Spencer’s remarks about the acquisition of Nintendo and V. The email was dated August 2020, when Microsoft had not yet Officially acquired Zenimax (Company B). The content of this email shows that Spencer believes that Microsoft is the most likely American company to cooperate with Nintendo, which mentions that Nintendo’s Board of Directors (BoD) was actively promoting the appreciation of the company’s stock at the time.

Separately, in an email written by Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty and disclosed in June this year, Matt Booty encouraged Tim Stuart to invest heavily in buying game content so that the company could compete with Sony through subscription services.

The article mentioned: “We (Microsoft) are in a very unique position to be able to put Sony out of business. We (Microsoft) can spend $2 billion or $3 billion in 2020 to avoid competitors taking the lead in services in the future. , so it is very worthwhile to spend money to stop Sony, Google, Tencent, and Amazon, and make Microsoft the Disney of the gaming industry.”

According to previous reports, Spencer said in an interview during the Tokyo Game Show that Microsoft Game Studio also has Japanese creators. Although the specific information cannot be disclosed yet, they are working with a series of developers to create new games. Our development environment for games, both first-party and third-party, is always growing, so you can look forward to Japanese-style games on our platform in the future. “

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In a statement to Deadline, an FTC spokesperson said:

 Microsoft and Activision Blizzard closed the deal ahead of an appeals court hearing scheduled for December, but we're still moving forward with the federal appeals process.

 The new agreement between Microsoft, Activision, and Ubisoft brings new content to the merger, which will inevitably affect American consumers. The Federal Trade Commission is conducting an evaluation in accordance with administrative procedures and still believes that the transaction poses a threat to competition.

It was reported in September this year that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an announcement stating that it would continue to file an administrative lawsuit against Microsoft to prevent the company from acquiring Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.

The FTC stated that it was in the “best interest of the public” that it decided to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the merger and restart the adjudication process.

Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in January 2022 and initially planned to complete the deal in July 2023, but due to obstruction from some countries and regions such as the United Kingdom and the United States, the deadline was postponed to October 18.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been approved by more than 40 countries and regions around the world. The British CMA said on Friday that Activision Blizzard’s sale of cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft has greatly resolved previous concerns and gained approval for the transaction. Opened the door.

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Earlier this year, the CMA blocked Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of all of Activision Blizzard’s businesses over concerns the deal would harm competition in cloud gaming in the UK. Microsoft submitted a restructuring deal for review by the CMA in August after the deal was blocked.

It is learned from the announcement that under this new agreement, Microsoft will not purchase the cloud gaming rights held by Activision Blizzard, but will sell them to an independent third party Ubisoft Entertainment (Ubisoft) before the transaction is completed. .

The CMA believes the restructuring deal makes important changes that largely address concerns raised earlier this year in relation to the original deal.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a statement: “As the cloud gaming market develops, the new agreement will prevent Microsoft from locking in cloud gaming competition and retain competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers. “

“We are grateful to the CMA for today’s thorough review and decision. We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to complete this acquisition, which we believe will benefit gamers and the gaming industry around the world,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith.

According to previous news from the Nasdaq official website, trading in Activision Blizzard (ATVI) stock was suspended. The suspension code T1 means “trading is suspended pending the release of major news.”

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The European Commission approved Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in May this year, while the CMA blocked the same plan in April this year, claiming it would give Microsoft an anti-competitive advantage in the cloud gaming market.

Microsoft then submitted a new revised plan to the CMA, committing to letting Ubisoft offer current and future Activision Blizzard games via cloud streaming.

It was previously reported that after Microsoft submitted a new plan, the European Commission will re-open its investigation, which will undoubtedly delay the company’s timetable for completing the transaction. Bloomberg saying that the European Commission believes that the transaction “does not need to go through another approval process.”

An official spokesperson for the European Commission would not comment on the report, saying only that the European Commission is “closely following developments in the UK and assessing their potential impact.”

Microsoft is rumoured to be preparing to finalize its acquisition of Activision Blizzard as early as this Friday (October 13). Even if the company does complete the acquisition, it may still have to deal with the FTC.

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However, the exact date will still depend on the attitude of the UK Competition and Markets Authority. According to previous plans, October 6 was the deadline for feedback from the UK CMA on provisional approval of the transaction, with the CMA’s final decision expected to be made next week. If there are no unexpected changes at the “last minute”, Microsoft will successfully complete the transaction.

Microsoft and Activision had set a deadline of October 18 for the deal. If the deal can be completed next week, Microsoft will end a 20-month process of regulatory approval and competition earlier than expected.

Earlier this month, Tom Warren, senior editor of The Verge, revealed on the X platform (formerly Twitter) that Microsoft is expected to complete the acquisition within next week. However, outside of the CMA, the FTC still stated last month that it “will continue to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.” The FTC believes that this acquisition may make Microsoft’s Xbox platform exclusive to Activision Blizzard’s games, while Nintendo and Nintendo Sony will be excluded.

In relevant documents leaked recently, the FTC said, “The Commission has determined that in the public interest, this matter must be fully and expeditiously resolved, and therefore the Commission has remanded the case for retrial.”

▲ Picture source previously leaked FTC related documents

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Tom Warren claimed that October 6 is the deadline for the CMA to provide feedback on the deal’s provisional approval, and with that in mind, and barring any surprises, Microsoft is expected to finalize and close the acquisition next week, ending a 20-month-long process.

▲ Source: Tom Warren’s posting on the X platform.

However, outside of the CMA, the FTC still said last month that it “will continue to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard”, and the FTC believes that the acquisition may make Microsoft’s Xbox platform exclusive to Activision Blizzard’s games, while Nintendo and Sony will be excluded.

In a recently leaked document, the FTC said, “The Commission has determined that the public interest requires that this matter be fully and expeditiously resolved, and the Commission therefore remands this case for further proceedings.”

▲ Source: Previously Leaked FTC Documents

FTC spokeswoman Victoria Graham previously revealed that “the Commission continues to believe that this transaction poses a threat to competition, and we are placing this matter on the Commission’s Part 3 calendar pending an ongoing federal court appeal, but the current focus is on the federal appellate process”.

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Satya Nadella content is as follows: “We will continue to promote the regulatory approval process, and have the confidence to complete this transaction.”

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has so far been approved by the governments of 39 countries, and Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have recently signed an agreement to extend the deadline for completing the acquisition deal to 18 October.

The biggest obstacle to the deal is the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which rejected Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in April this year, fearing that competition in the cloud gaming market would be damaged.

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This new development is undoubtedly a major victory for Microsoft, and there is a great probability of completing the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The latest news released by the media is that the FTC did withdraw its internal trial work, but the reason was that after the FTC lost the case in court, Microsoft asked the agency to withdraw, which is a procedural move.

Microsoft and Activision could seek to persuade the FTC’s commissioners to accept the settlement, or drop their opposition to the deal altogether. However, the FTC is still appealing an earlier court ruling in favor of the merger of the two companies.

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▲ Figure source Microsoft

The matter as follows:

At the end of June, Microsoft and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a hearing to present their respective final arguments on the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

On July 11, California Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction, allowing Microsoft to complete the deal.

On July 13, the FTC appealed the decision.

On July 14th, Microsoft responded that "this doesn't change anything."

The FTC appealed the court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, requesting that the judgment be reversed, preventing Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard, and requesting an extension of the existing temporary restraining order, although these requests were denied by the Ninth Circuit.

The FTC’s existing temporary restraining order expires at midnight Pacific time this Friday, after which it means Microsoft can legally acquire Activision Blizzard in the US.

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Yesterday, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled against the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction against the transaction, allowing Microsoft to proceed with the acquisition.

For the ruling, the FTC said today it would appeal.

In this regardBobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said: “If the FTC is wasting taxpayer resources on something like this, I will be surprised.” Kotick believes that the appeals court will not approve suspend execution of the transaction.

“The success of the appeal depends largely on the analysis of the ‘factual record,'” said Daniel Crane, an antitrust scholar at the University of Michigan Law School. Crane believes that there is no commitment with Microsoft yet. Contradictory factual records. Microsoft has previously promised that it will not limit the game Call of Duty to its own Xbox platform. “The FTC may have difficulty establishing that fact on appeal,” Klein said.
Faced with antitrust investigations around the world

Last January, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for approximately $69 billion. After the transaction is completed, Microsoft will become the world’s third-highest-revenue game company, second only to Tencent and Sony. Several regulators around the world have since launched investigations into the deal.

Earlier this month, the FTC filed an application in court seeking a temporary injunction from a judge to block the deal. The FTC believes the deal will harm competition in the gaming market.

So far, the deal has been approved by Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Serbia, Chile, Japan, South Africa and the European Union, and is pending approval from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Yesterday, after Judge Corley approved Microsoft to continue to advance the deal, the British antitrust regulator “Competition and Markets Authority” (CMA) quickly stated that it was ready to re-evaluate any proposal from Microsoft. As Blizzard and the British CMA have asked the court to suspend the proceedings.
The attitude of the British CMA has changed sharply

Britain’s CMA said today that a restructuring deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard could allay its concerns, marking a back down from opposition to the biggest gaming deal in history.

It’s no secret that the UK CMA is a strong opponent of Microsoft’s Activision-Blizzard deal. An antitrust investigation into this transaction was launched very early. At the end of April this year, the CMA officially blocked the transaction, mainly concerned that it would have an adverse impact on future competition in the cloud gaming market. Subsequently, Microsoft hired high-profile lawyers to try to overturn the ruling.

Affected by the ruling of US judge Corley, the British CMA said today that Microsoft and Activision Blizzard can choose to restructure the deal, and then the CMA will launch a new investigation. CMA said: “Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have indicated that they are considering how to modify this deal, and we are also preparing to engage with them on this basis.” Will be determined in due course.
Do not want to break away from European and American jurisdictions

With the FTC’s appeal looming, the U.K. CMA’s decision to agree to reconsider the deal at this stage surprised advisers to the deal and many antitrust lawyers.

“It’s really an unprecedented and dramatic shift,” said Alex Haffner, a partner at British law firm Fladgate.

A person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named, said they were surprised by the CMA’s decision, saying the U.K. regulator did not appear to want to break away from the twin jurisdictions of the European Union and the United States. The European Union had already approved the deal in May this year.

According to the plan, the deadline for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard to complete the deal is July 18. If the deal is ultimately blocked, Microsoft would need to pay a $3 billion breakup fee. Microsoft also acknowledged in court documents that if it loses the FTC lawsuit, the deal is likely to fall through.

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