Despite the “no” from the UK CMA, Microsoft is still fully intent on completing theacquisition of Activision Blizzard, a process that regardless of the result should still take a long time. Here is a summary with the most important dates already fixed for the verdicts of regulatory bodies and beyond.
- May 12, 2023: The lawsuit filed against Microsoft by a group of gamers will be heard in the courtroom.
May 22, 2023: provisional deadline for the verdict of the European Commission, which will be crucial to determine the success of the acquisition. - May 2023: The verdict of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) in China.
- May 2023: The verdict of the Korea Fair Trade Commission
- May 2023: Final decision by the Competition Tribunal in South Africa
- Late May: Deadline for Microsoft to appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in the UK to challenge the CMA verdict. The Redmond giant has already confirmed that it will try this path.
- June 9, 2023: New Zealand’s verdict
- July 18, 2023: the end of the second extension and the last date foreseen by the acquisition agreement. If Microsoft abandons the maneuver by that date, it will have to pay a penalty of 3 billion dollars to Activision Blizzard. Otherwise, he will have to renegotiate a new extension.
- August 2, 2023: Trial begins in FTC Domestic Court
- Early 2024: FTC Administrative Judge verdict
- Early 2024: verdict of the CAT, if Microsoft will have appealed in May
Please note that the dates above may be postponed in some cases and new major appointments may be added in the coming weeks and months.
Meanwhile, the CMA’s decision to reject the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the UK has unleashed the ire of CEO Bobby Kotick, who has even insinuated that the FTC is colluding with the British antitrust, while NVIDIA has decided to publicly side with the part of Microsoft, stating that the maneuver will have a positive impact in the cloud gaming market.
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