(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp’s $69 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard faced another hurdle on Tuesday after a U.S. judge granted a request by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to temporarily block the deal.
The acquisition has attracted scrutiny from several antitrust enforcers, including Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), over concerns it would hinder competition in the nascent cloud gaming market.
If not for the court order, Microsoft could have closed the deal as early as Friday.
Here is a snapshot of key events in the Microsoft-Activision saga:
Date Development
Jan 18, Microsoft says it is buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion
2022
Feb 1, Bloomberg News reports that FTC would handle the review of the deal
2022
March 21, FTC has sought additional data from Activision and Microsoft related to the antitrust
2022 review of their deal, the game developer says
April 28, Activision Blizzard shareholders approve Microsoft’s proposal to buy the “Call of Duty”
2022 maker
July 6, Britain’s antitrust watchdog starts an investigation into the deal
2022
Sept 1, Britain’s antitrust regulator says the deal could harm competition in gaming consoles,
2022 subscription services and cloud gaming, and it needs to be investigated in depth
Sept 7, Sony Group Corp says the offer by Microsoft to keep the “Call of Duty” series on
2022 PlayStation for a limited time is “inadequate”
Sept 15, Britain’s antitrust watchdog says it would launch an in-depth probe into the deal
2022
Sept 30, EU antitrust regulators set Nov. 8
2022 deadline
to decide on the deal
Oct 12, Microsoft says Britain’s competition regulator had relied on objections from Sony in
2022 referring the deal to an in-depth inquiry
Dec 8, The Biden administration moves to block Microsoft-Activision deal
2022
Dec 22, Microsoft says the deal would benefit gamers and gaming companies
2022
Feb 8, Britain takes aim at the deal, saying it could harm gamers by weakening the rivalry
2023 between Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation
Feb 21, Microsoft strikes 10-year deal to bring “Call of Duty” and other Activision games to
2023 Nvidia Corp’s gaming platform
March 1, EU regulators extend the deadline for the deal to April 25
2023
March 8, Microsoft tells UK it will license “Call of Duty” to Sony for 10 years
2023
March 28, Japan’s antitrust watchdog says the deal will not harm competition
2023
April 26, UK blocks Microsoft-Activision deal over cloud gaming concerns
2023
May 15, Microsoft wins EU antitrust approval for the deal
2023
May 24, Microsoft appeals against UK block on the deal
2023
June 12, US FTC asks court to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision
2023
June 13, A U.S. judge grants FTC’s request to temporarily block the acquisition and set a
2023 hearing next week
(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
