Hints and tips:
Related Special Reports
Related Topics
...Now headquartered in New York, it has 2.7mn subscribers across 15,000 corporate clients, including blue-chip names like Amazon, Oracle and Activision Blizzard....
...NetEase and US games rival Microsoft, which bought Activision Blizzard last year, said on Wednesday they would bring Blizzard’s popular titles such as the online role-playing game World of Warcraft back...
...“The CMA’s official approval is great news for our future with Microsoft, and we look forward to becoming part of the Xbox Team,” Activision said....
...For evidence, look no further than Microsoft’s $75bn purchase of Activision Blizzard....
...“To address these concerns, Microsoft has offered remedies to ensure that the terms of the sale of Activision’s rights to Ubisoft are enforceable by the CMA,” it added....
...Under the latest terms, Microsoft cannot release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming....
...Microsoft’s $75bn pursuit of Activision Blizzard was game over....
...Following the ruling, both companies criticised the UK for hampering tech innovation, with Activision accusing Britain of being “closed for business”....
...When a federal judge in California rejected the US Federal Trade Commission’s request to block Microsoft’s $75bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard, she dealt a sharp setback to the regulator’s ambitious...
...UK regulators have opened the door for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard to close their $75bn video games deal within as little as six weeks, as the companies scramble to restructure their agreement to satisfy...
...Activision was also confident that “our deal will quickly close”. Activision’s board has authorised a 99 cent per share special dividend, a payout to investors totalling about $780mn....
...Bobby Kotick, Activision’s chief executive, told staff that the ruling in California “signals a path to full regulatory approval elsewhere around the globe”....
...The FTC is planning to appeal the Microsoft/Activision ruling but it is fighting many M&A wars....
...Microsoft has already signed 10-year licences for Activision games with some other companies, including Nintendo, an unusually long period that it has claimed proves its intention to continue to make Activision...
...Yet Microsoft has set its face against shedding any of Activision’s business. “The synergy [of the deal] is the breadth and depth of the Activision portfolio....
...Activision and Microsoft are committed to the deal as merger contracts demand their “best” efforts to complete....
...However, in the three months to April this year, King, the mobile company behind Candy Crush Saga, was the primary earner for Activision Blizzard, drawing in $739mn in revenues, higher than the Activision...
...It claimed Microsoft had the incentive to do the same with Activision’s games....
...The FTC said in Monday’s filing: “With control of Activision’s content, Microsoft would have the ability and increased incentive to withhold or degrade Activision’s content in ways that substantially lessen...
...Among the damaging claims that Epic made, the Fortnite maker alleged that Google had cut special side deals with handset makers as well as certain publishers like Activision Blizzard....
...On Tuesday, a US federal judge rejected the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to halt Microsoft’s $75bn takeover of Activision Blizzard, the developer behind the Call of Duty game....
...The potential for Microsoft to withhold Call of Duty, Activision’s most popular game, from Sony’s PlayStation has become a central issue in the case....
...“With control of Activision’s content, Microsoft would have the ability and increased incentive to withhold or degrade Activision’s content in ways that substantially lessen competition — including competition...
...On Wednesday, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority declared that it would not approve Microsoft’s blockbuster acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Both companies make noises about a fight....
...It also exited Activision Blizzard, closing out a merger arbitrage wager that the video game publisher would successfully finalise its sale to Microsoft in spite of antitrust scrutiny....
International Edition