Blizzard Acknowledes Declining Overwatch 2 Numbers

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.”

Overwatch hero Sojourn, aka Vivian Chase, is the star of Blizzard’s latest animated short, “Calling,” a dollop of lore that arrives 10 months after the hero made her debut in Overwatch 2. Like a lot of Overwatch lore, it ties back to the reformation of the eponymous team and the illegality of Winston’s attempt to reunite the supergroup. In Sojourn’s case, she’s been secretly operating as an independent agent, not an official member of Overwatch — something that almost gets her into serious trouble.

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.

Mischief & Magic, Overwatch's take on the classic Prop Hunt game mode is now live until August 9th, featuring Spiritwarder Ana as a reward.

Blizzard has said it’s looking at tweaking the menu design of Diablo 4 because some players claim it’s making them activate their Premium Battle Pass by accident.

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.

The US Federal Trade Commission has withdrawn its proceedings against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.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.

In a recent earnings report, Blizzard celebrated Diablo 4's meteoric rise as its highest-earning game of all time, even while community sentiment around the latest patch hasn't been stellar. 

Blizzard is set to host a Diablo 4 ‘Campfire Chat’ on Friday to address fan feedback to the game’s latest major update.

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.

Blizzard games will be coming to Steam, starting with Overwatch 2 on 10th August, giving PC gamers an option outside of Battle.net for where they buy and play their Blizzard games.

Blizzard is bringing a selection of its PC games over to Steam, starting with Overwatch 2. The free-to-play team-based shooter is headed to Valve's gaming client on August 10, in what appears to be a change in Blizzard's strategy due to its impending acquisition by Microsoft and the low player engagement the game has garnered in recent times. The Windows PC version of Overwatch 2 and other games from the publisher is largely restricted to its Battle.net launcher — a hot topic for most PC gamers, who prefer having all their games on one platform and hate having to juggle between them. The Steam version will also include the niceties of unlockable achievements and cross-platform multiplayer.