The process of (eventual) approval of theacquisition Of Activision Blizzard from Microsoft it could still be quite long, but several are already established at your place important as regards the comparison between the house of Redmond and the various regulatory bodies:
- March 1, 2023: last day to respond to the findings of the CMA.
- Early March 2023: hearing for the CMA’s response.
- Early March 2023: time limit to propose solutions to the European Commission.
- End of March 2023: responses to CMA concerns and solutions will likely be published.
- April 11, 2023: final decision by the European Commission.
- April 12, 2023: Motion for a preliminary injunction regarding the players’ lawsuit.
- April 18, 2023: second extension of the original deadline. If Microsoft quits by this date it will have to pay a $2.5 billion penalty, if it doesn’t the date is extended to July 18, 2023.
- April 26, 2023: Final report and solutions from the CMA.
- April 28, 2023: decision by New Zealand.
- April-May 2023: SAMR decision in China.
- July 18, 2023: term of the second extension and final date for consenting to the acquisition. If Microsoft leaves by this date it will have to pay a penalty of 3 billion dollars, if it does not it will have to renegotiate the closing date with Activision Blizzard.
- August 2, 2023: Internal lawsuit with FTC begins.
- Early 2024: FTC Administrative Judge decision.
Yesterday, in Brussels, Microsoft held a conference in which it explained that an agreement with Sony is still far away and that PlayStation is worth 4 times Xbox in Europe and more than double worldwide, to underline once again the effective current balance of the market.
At the same time it was announced that all Xbox games for PC will arrive on GeForce NOW, as well as the signing of a ten-year agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms where the acquisition of Activision were to be successful.
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