FTC Reportedly Stepped in to Review Microsoft's Acquisition of Activision Blizzard - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 February 2022 / 4,412 Views
Microsoft announced last month it is acquiring Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $68.7 billion. This is the biggest acquisition in gaming history by a large amount. The previous record was set at the beginning of the year when Take-Two Interactive announced it will acquire Zynga in a deal valued at $12.7 billion.
A new report from Bloomberg, says the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be stepping in to investigate Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal. The FTC will determine if the acquisition means unfair competition or not. This is according a person who wished to remain anonymous who is speaking to the organization.
The report says the deal will be reviewed by the Justice Department, who typically works with the FTC to rule on other potential large acquisitions.
The list of subsidiaries and divisions under Activision Blizzard include Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob and Treyarch.
The most well known IPs that are owned by Activision Blizzard include Call of Duty, Warcraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, and StarCraft. In total there are well over 30 IPs owned by Activision Blizzard.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
More Articles
This was expected and I believe also legally required for deals that exceed $90 million in the US
This is like the biggest not news thing in the history of not news. A gigantic acquisition getting regulatory scrutiny, unimaginable!
This was always going to happen, basically part of the process.
Can we investigate EA and Madden next
Let's see... will the competitors still get thousands of games? Hmmm... I think so.
Essay Pro