February2023
News Three Rivals Feel Microsoft's ActiBlizz Deal Would Have 'Negative Impact On Competition'
The latest from the UK CMA's investigation
The UK Competition and Markets Authority is still investigating Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal, with the final report currently set to be published by April 26th. While we've heard plenty about Sony's clear objections to the merger, today the CMA posted new findings relating to other gaming competitors...
News Microsoft Will Defend Its Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal In EU Court Hearing Next Week
Will the company see success?
Some of you may remember (unless you're as lost as we are at this point) that not too long ago, Microsoft reportedly received a 'statement of objections' from the European Commission in regards to the Xbox ActiBlizz deal. That statement basically included a bunch of things the commission wants to see altered for the...
News Sony Feels Microsoft Is Committing 'Obvious Harassment' In Relation To ActiBlizz Deal
What is going on?!
Not too long ago (although it all seems like a blur at this point), Microsoft ordered Sony to attend court to present its findings regarding Xbox's Activision Blizzard purchase. That court trial hasn't gone ahead yet — the hearing is currently planned for August 2nd — but it seems like Sony isn't too happy with Microsoft's...
News Microsoft CEO Suggests ActiBlizz Deal Would Help Xbox 'Compete' In Japan
Expanding territories
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appeared on CNBC this week to talk about the future of the company, including what's next for the Xbox team. Of course, this discussion led to questions about the Activision Blizzard acquisition, and how Microsoft is responding to the current regulatory approval processes going on around the world...
News UK Authority Proposes Excluding Call Of Duty From Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal
Amongst other potential changes
The UK CMA has today published a new report on its ongoing investigation into Xbox's ActiBlizz deal, and there's a lot to unpack here in regards to the likelihood of the purchase actually going through. While there are plenty of wrinkles to this report, much of the focus is once again centred around Call of Duty. The...
News Call Of Duty 'Full Annual Premium Release' Set To Launch In 2023
Water is wet
Activision Blizzard's latest financial report is now out for public viewing, or at least a summarised version of it is via the company's investor website. New ActiBlizz financials means one surefire thing - plenty of talk about Call of Duty. Alongside lots of boasting about how much money last year's Modern Warfare 2 made — along...
January2023
News Microsoft Orders Sony To Attend Activision Blizzard Court Hearing This Summer
For the FTC trial
Things are getting real now! As part of Xbox's ongoing tussle over the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has issued a subpoena to Sony - summoning the PlayStation owner to attend an FTC court hearing this summer. According to a new filing in the overall case, Microsoft issued the legal order on January 17th, expecting...
Report EU Commission Preparing 'Statement Of Objections' Over Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal
We should hear more soon
A number of authorities around the world are currently investigating Xbox's Activision Blizzard acquisition, to ensure a fair and open market in the gaming industry is retained post-deal. One of those authorities is the European Commission, which is reportedly preparing a statement on the matter. According to Reuters, the...
News UK CMA Extends Deadline For Its Investigation Into Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal
The wait continues
The Xbox ActiBlizz news just keeps on coming! After an FTC attorney just revealed that settlement talks between the US authority and Microsoft are yet to commence, the UK Competition and Markets Authority is back with an update of its own. The CMA has decided to extend its investigation period, meaning any ruling on Microsoft's...
Report Microsoft, ActiBlizz & The FTC Yet To Begin 'Substantive' Settlement Talks
The deal could end up in court
Earlier this month, the US Federal Trade Commission formally announced its intentions to try and block the Xbox Activision Blizzard deal, pointing at Microsoft's Bethesda exclusivity plans as a big reason for doing so. Ahead of a potential legal trial both parties could engage in settlement talks to sort this thing out...
December2022
News Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal Approved By Chile Authority
Progression
Xbox may well be battling hard with UK and US authorities over its purchase of Activision Blizzard, but the acquisition is proving a smoother process in other counties around the world. We know that Brazil and Saudi Arabia have already approved the deal, and now a second South A
"The FTC ignores the significant benefits of the Transaction..."
Strap yourselves in, folks — here we go again! Earlier this month, the US Federal Trading Commission announced it was filing a suit against Microsoft's attempted takeover of Activision Blizzard, and now Microsoft and ActiBlizz have revealed their responses in court documents. The...
News CMA Reveals Public Feedback Has Been Mostly In Favour Of Xbox's ActiBlizz Acquisition
Based on around 2100 responses
The UK Competition and Markets Authority is currently conducting a "Phase 2" investigation into Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and you may remember that a couple of months ago, the authority also began asking the general public for their views on the takeover. Well, those results are now in,...
News Microsoft Enters '10-Year Commitment' To Bring Call Of Duty To Nintendo Platforms
CoD will also continue to be offered on Steam
Following on from yesterday's news about Microsoft offering Sony a 10-year deal to keep the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has now delivered another huge update. In a brief post on social media, the Xbox boss announced Microsoft had entered into a "10-year...
November2022
News Activision Blizzard 'Won't Hesitate To Fight' To Defend Xbox Deal
And in this corner...
Wednesday, November 23rd was another landmark day in the ongoing back-and-forth over Xbox's deal with Activision Blizzard. Recent statements from both Microsoft and Sony in response to the UK CMA's investigation of the deal were finally made public, while a r
Report US FTC 'Likely' To File Lawsuit Against Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal
Uh-oh
Update: Activision has now responded to this report with a statement, revealing that the company "won't hesitate to fight to defend the transaction if that's needed". <related ids="141650"> Original story: More revelations regarding the Xbox Activision Blizzard deal have come to light in recent hours, with outlet
News Phil Spencer 'Excited' About Future Of StarCraft & Warcraft Under Xbox
"What could happen with those franchises is pretty exciting to me"
A lot has been said about the treasure trove of IP that Xbox would own after the Activision Blizzard merger, especially things like Call of Duty, Crash and Spyro, amongst other franchises. However, Blizzard has a lot to bring to the table as well, especially more PC-centric
News Diablo 4 Reportedly Launching On Xbox In April 2023
Possibly with a TGA 2022 reveal!
Well, some Diablo 4 release date reports are beginning to gain pace ahead of next month's The Game Awards event. Reported on by both Xbox Era and Windows Central, Blizzard is set to launch Diablo 4
October2022
News Take-Two CEO Backs Microsoft's Acquisition Of Activision Blizzard
"It's a good thing for Microsoft and for the industry"
We're hearing a lot of discourse online about Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and whether it's a good or bad thing for the industry. In a recent video interview with The Grill, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked about his own thoughts, and mentioned how he's "in favour" and...
News Overwatch 2 Undergoes 'Emergency Maintenance' After More DDoS Attacks
Bastion & Torbjörn also temporarily removed
Blizzard's Overwatch 2 launch hasn't exactly gone smoothly and it seems like the company is still having trouble with all sorts of problems. Not long after it temporarily removed Bastion and Torbjörn from the game earlier today to iron out some bugs, its servers had another meltdown due to more DDoS...
News Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Approved In Brazil
Another one off the list
Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal might be receiving its fair share of scrutiny from various government authorities, but it's beginning to pass the test in certain markets. Back in August, Saudi officials accepted the deal's terms with no changes needed, and now Brazil has officially approved the merger too. Hurrah! Brazil's...
News Overwatch 2's Servers Meltdown In 'Mass DDoS Attack' At Launch
Update: Existing players won't require a phone number
Update [Thu 6th Oct, 2022 06:30 BST]: Blizzard has published a new post on its announcement page, addressing the current state of the Overwatch 2 launch. Perhaps the most notable change, going live on October 7th, is the decision to remove phone number requirements for a majority of existing...
News UK Authority Sets March 2023 Deadline For Verdict On Xbox ActiBlizz Deal
Activate Phase 2
The UK government authority on market competition has laid out its timeline for delivering a verdict on Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal. Phase 2 of its analysis in now underway, and the final report is said to be delivered by March 1st, 2023. In theory, this means the deal won't go through until at least that date and even then,...
News Here's When Overwatch 2's Free-To-Play Launch Hits Xbox
All the timings for today's big switch
Well, it's finally happening! More than six years after Overwatch hit Xbox One, its follow-up is about to launch on Xbox platforms, this time as a free-to-play title (well, the multiplayer at least). With the move to F2P, you may be asking yourself, when can I try out the sequel? Overwatch 2 Xbox Release...
News Microsoft Lays Out 'Benefits' Of Xbox + Activision Blizzard On New Website
"More choice and more games for people everywhere"
Xbox is continuing to try and sell its case for merging with Activision Blizzard, via a new website that details the benefits that'll come from the merger. Microsoft's new online portal is dubbed "our vision for gaming", and it basically brings all the info on the deal under one roof, including the...