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Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said his discussions with various regulators around the world were “fair and honest” regarding the acquisition of the company. (opens in a new tab) by Activision Blizzard King, the video game publisher responsible for titles as diverse as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush.
“I would say that the discussions were very fair and honest. It is a great acquisition, there is no doubt. Microsoft in its role in the technology industry, is a large technology company, and I think the discussion about an acquisition of this size is warranted, and I appreciated the time to go spend,” he said.
Spencer made the comments during an interview on the Wall Street Journal Tech Live (opens in a new tab) event, as reported by VGC. (opens in a new tab)
Spencer flew around the world, apparently, talking to regulators and approval authorities to secure the deal. Brazil has already approved it (opens in a new tab)but Britain’s watchdog (opens in a new tab) and the FTC of the United States (opens in a new tab) both are looking at the deal, with another decision deadline set by Europe’s CMA soon.
Despite all the scrutiny, Spencer remains saying he thinks the acquisition will ultimately be approved by regulators. “I’m confident about that. I was just in London last week, continue to have discussions with all the regulatory bodies, and rest assured that we will approve the deal,” he said.
Discourse within the video game industry focuses widely around Call of Duty, with recent headlines here at PC Gamer focusing on concepts such as “what if Call of Duty sucked”? (opens in a new tab) and how an extant Sony deal with Activision prevented Call of Duty from coming to Xbox’s Game Pass. (opens in a new tab)
Spencer had been in the clear for some time though (opens in a new tab) that most of Activision Blizzard King’s value to Microsoft is in its overwhelming mobile revenue. We usually just name corporate giant Activision Blizzard here, but that King part of the company focuses on King, part of the mobile gaming business at the company, which makes more money than both PC and console gaming combined. (opens in a new tab)
Spencer reiterated a few other talking points in the interview, assuring that Call of Duty will continue to release on PlayStation “as long as it makes sense” and that he would like to see it released on platforms like the Nintendo Switch in the future.
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