Activision Blizzard Cut Jobs Due To Overwatch League Uncertainty?

While Microsoft sent its final submission to the Consumer Markets Authority in the UK regarding its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, another regular has approved the deal. New Zealand’s Commerce Commission announced its approval, noting its focus on “the importance of Activision games (such as Call of Duty, Overwatch and World of Warcraft) to New Zealand gamers.”

With the US Federal Trade Commission’s request for an injunction on the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard denied, approval from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the only obstacle left. The latter initially denied the deal, with an appeal set to occur on July 28th, but the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) provided two months for both parties to resolve the same.

Speaking with the publication Transformer World, a Hasbro representative has revealed that Activision Blizzard currently doesn’t know the whereabouts of the source code for the various Transformers games that they were in charge of publishing.

Following victories over the FTC in the United States and other approvals from regulatory bodies in the EU and other locations, Microsoft is trying to convince the UK Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA ) to change its mind and approve the company’s deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. In an unusual step, the CMA is requesting new comments on the deal and will consider them ahead of its final order due next month.

The UK regulator the CMA has requested additional comments around Microsoft's bid to buy Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal is back in the hands of Britain's antitrust regulator after an appeals court granted an adjournment, and the grounds for why the UK should reconsider its block on the US software giant's takeover were published.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has commented on Microsoft's takeover bid of Activision Blizzard, stating it validates Ubisoft's decision to expand into mobile gaming.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has said Microsoft’s bid to acquire Activision Blizzard can be viewed as a sign that Ubisoft is on the right track with its current business strategy.

The US Federal Trade Commission has withdrawn its proceedings against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. According to IGN, the FTC responded to Microsoft’s motion to withdraw from the recent proceedings with no objections, essentially giving Microsoft the green light to go ahead with its $69 billion acquisition.

Following a fast-tracked trial with multiple revelations, the US Federal Trade Commission’s injunction to halt the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft was denied in court. It then filed for an appeal last week, which was also denied. Nevertheless, it’s not giving up just yet, as Reuters reports that it brought the case to an internal FTC administrative judge, with a trial scheduled for August 2nd.

Activision Blizzard has made a round of layoffs at its esports division, while confirming that big changes may be in store for the Overwatch League.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have renegotiated the deadline for concluding the proposed acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher, giving them more leeway to conclude the discussions with market regulators with a new deadline to complete by 18th October 2023.