Activision News Articles
Monday31st Jul 2023
News Microsoft Submits Changes To UK CMA Over Its 'Anticipated Acquisition' Of Activision Blizzard
The final level
Microsoft has submitted what is expected to be its final report to the CMA concerning its Xbox Activision Blizzard deal. Microsoft's submission was made on July 25th and goes over the CMA's concerns in detail, as stated by the authority in a notice posted today. The UK authority also mentions that such a move is "not a usual part of...
Friday28th Jul 2023
News Activision Blizzard Confirms 'Call Of Duty 2023' Reveal Plans
The game is all-but confirmed to be Modern Warfare III
We're almost into August and Activision is still referring to this year's CoD release as 'Call of Duty 2023'. Despite the team's reluctance to mention its real name (even with MW3 all-but confirmed), a proper unveiling of the game is right around the corner. As part of the Season 05 blog post...
Wednesday26th Jul 2023
News Microsoft CEO: Xbox Remains 'Confident' About Activision Blizzard Acquisition
The deal is almost across the line
Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is nearing the finish line according to previous statements made by company heads. If you are in need of some reassurance though, CEO Satya Nadella has now provided an incredibly brief update during the latest earnings report. According to the Microsoft boss, the tech...
Thursday20th Jul 2023
News Blizzard Games Announced For Steam Ahead Of Xbox Acquisition
Overwatch 2 will be the first title added to Valve's service
Xbox head Phil Spencer has already mentioned how Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard would make select games available to more players around the globe, and now in an industry update, Blizzard has announced it will be bringing its own games to Valve's Steam service for the first...
Tuesday18th Jul 2023
News Call Of Duty Team Confirms Modern Warfare 2 Content Carries Over To 2023 Release
Operators, weapons and bundles move over
After weeks' worth of leaks and rumours, we've got our first official developer comment on how this year's Call of Duty is shaping up - at least when it comes to how the game will follow on from 2022's Modern Warfare 2. The official Call of Duty Twitter account has announced that a lot of content present in...
Monday17th Jul 2023
News Xbox 360 Call Of Duty Titles See Huge Player Spikes Following Server Update
The classics are still poppin'
Last week, we caught wind that the folks over at Activision and their various Call of Duty studios had made some positive changes to how the old Xbox 360 games were running online, so naturally, we went back and had a look to see how things were going. As it turned out, online matchmaking did seem to have improved (we...
Sunday16th Jul 2023
News Microsoft & Sony Sign Binding Agreement To Keep Call Of Duty On PlayStation
Phil Spencer confirms
Update: It's now been confirmed Microsoft has committed to a 10-year deal for Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony has also confirmed this with Axios. "While Microsoft’s initial announcement doesn’t mention 10 years for Call of Duty on PlayStation, Kari Perez, head of global communications at Xbox, confirmed the 10-year
Saturday15th Jul 2023
News Microsoft Activision Blizzard Acquisition Given Greenlight In US After FTC Loses (Again)
"This brings us another step closer to the finish line"
Following FTC's appeal of the previous court ruling permitting Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the US regulator has now lost again. The Federal Trade Commission was also seeking injunctive relief to prevent Microsoft from closing the deal but has been denied by the US Ninth...
Friday14th Jul 2023
News Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Approved In Turkey Amidst Ongoing FTC Battle
Another win for Xbox
Although Microsoft seems to be getting closer to the final stage of acquiring Activision Blizzard in the US, it's still trying to pass the deal in other regions around the world, and is seeing success in most countries. The company is currently in the process of sorting out some issues relating to the deal with the UK's CMA,...
Thursday13th Jul 2023
News Classic Call Of Duty Matchmaking Appears To Have Drastically Improved On Xbox
That's some coincidence
The Call of Duty series in particular has been a hot topic since Xbox moved to acquire Activision Blizzard, and for good reason - it's still hugely popular and would be a great get for Xbox. Well, that popularity extends as far back as the early Xbox 360 days, and funnily enough, those titles seem to have received an...
Wednesday12th Jul 2023
News Xbox's ActiBlizz Deal Seems Closer, But Some Game Pass Arrivals Could Be Delayed
A recent CMA report mentions COD on Game Pass
Following yesterday's blockbuster news that the FTC's attempted injunction against Microsoft has been denied, the Activision Blizzard deal going through feels closer than ever. Even so, the acquisition is still not confirmed by any means, and a remaining authority that still needs winning over has also...
News Microsoft And UK CMA Agree To Pause Legal Battle Over Activision Blizzard Deal
Update: CMA warns of a potential "new merger investigation"
Update: The CMA has warned that its latest discussions with Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are at an "early stage", and a restructured deal could ultimately lead to a "new merger investigation". Here's a statement courtesy of The Verge: "Whilst merging parties don’t have the...
Tuesday11th Jul 2023
News Xbox's Phil Spencer 'Grateful' For Speedy Court Decision On FTC Activision Blizzard Case
"I’m proud of our efforts to expand player access and choice"
The FTC has just lost its case to block Microsoft's Activision Blizzard purchase, and company executives are already out there on the internet, reacting to the news and providing statements on the matter. One of those execs is Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who has released a multi-post...
Thursday29th Jun 2023
News Microsoft's CEO Isn't A Fan Of Console Exclusives, Blames Sony
Sony has "defined market competition using exclusives"
Exclusives are arguably one of the main selling points of console gaming, but if Microsoft's boss had any say, he would apparently abolish them. During his testimony in the Microsoft v FTC hearing today, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella said he would do away with exclusives on Xbox consoles if it...
Saturday24th Jun 2023
News Xbox Boss Promises To Keep Call Of Duty On PlayStation (Again)
As long as Sony is up for it
Head of Microsoft's gaming division Phil Spencer has today been asked a lot about the future of Activision Blizzard under the Xbox banner. One question, in particular, that came up was in regards to Call of Duty, and whether or not the company would continue to release the series on PlayStation. As long as Sony is...
Tuesday20th Jun 2023
News New Zealand Regulator Shares Concerns Over Xbox's Activision Blizzard Takeover
"We have agreed an extension of time"
We've got another development in the Activision Blizzard saga! The New Zealand Commerce Commission has officially asked for an extension before making a decision on the takeover, with the date now set as July 17th, 2023. The Commission's concerns are centred mainly around cloud gaming, with a statement...
Monday12th Jun 2023
News FTC Requests Temporary Restraining Order Against Microsoft & Activision Blizzard
Along with a preliminary injunction
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced that it's filed a request for a temporary restraining order along with a preliminary injunction against Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. The FTC, which issued a lawsuit against the ActiBlizz takeover back in December, told IGN today that the restraining order is...
News Microsoft Is Still 'Very Committed' To The Activision Blizzard Acquisition
Xbox boss remains "confident" team will find solutions
At an Xbox panel earlier on titled 'What's Next for Gaming', Xbox boss Phil Spencer provided another update about the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, reiterating how Microsoft is "very committed" to seeing the deal through. The team is out there working with regulators to "find solutions"...
Wednesday7th Jun 2023
News Call Of Duty: Warzone Ditches '2.0' Title As Free Season 4 Content Is Revealed
The MW2/Warzone Season 4 roadmap is here
Activision has lifted the lid on its latest season of Call of Duty content, and it marks quite a shift in messaging for MW2 and particularly Warzone 2.0. Basically, the team has ditched the '2.0' naming of the 2022 version of Warzone as we move into Season 4 - which brings another brand new map to the CoD...
Wednesday31st May 2023
News Xbox's Appeal Against UK ActiBlizz Verdict Set For July 2023
The show goes on
Ever since the CMA made its move to block Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal in the UK, we've known that Microsoft would appeal against the decision. The Xbox owner came out proclaiming as much straight after the decision was made, and we now have a tentative timeline for the appeals process. The UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal is...
Tuesday30th May 2023
News Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Approved By South Korean FTC
Approval stamped
The Asian nation of South Korea is the latest to unconditionally approve Xbox's Activision Blizzard merger, as announced by the country's Federal Trade Commission on May 30th. The South Korean FTC says that it sees no issue with the deal going ahead, ultimately determining that there would be "no risk of substantially restricting...
Friday19th May 2023
News In The Latest Xbox ActiBlizz Twist, China Reportedly Approves Microsoft's Acquisition
Capitalism W?
While Microsoft looks like it has a fight on its hands with the UK CMA — and potentially the US FTC — over its Activision Blizzard acquisition, in a new twist today - China has reportedly approved the deal. According to the financial analysts over at
News 2K Seems To Be Totally In Favour Of Xbox Acquiring Activision Blizzard
It could be a slam dunk
Earlier this week, 2K parent company Take-Two released its latest financial report, and a batch of related Q&As have led to some interesting Xbox tidbits. We already reported on the company's CEO saying we're "probably" going to see mid-gen console upgrades, and the 2K boss also discussed Microsoft's ongoing acquisition...
Thursday18th May 2023
News UK CMA Encouraged To Promote 'Economic Growth' Despite Reservations Over ActiBlizz Deal
It's all getting rather political isn't it
Since the CMA decided to try and block Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal in the UK, we've been left a little unsure as to where the whole saga will go next. The EU has now approved the deal which at least paints a slightly rosier picture for Microsoft, but here in the UK and over in the U.S. it all seems up...
Tuesday16th May 2023
News Microsoft CEO Raises Eyebrows With Comment About UK & Activision Blizzard
"Let's wait for it all to play out"
Microsoft boss Satya Nadella has been getting a lot of attention over the past few hours courtesy of an interview he recently conducted with CNBC, in which he addressed Microsoft's attempted takeover of Activision Blizzard. In the interview, which was recorded prior to the European C
News UK MPs Question Why The CMA Blocked Xbox's ActiBlizz Deal Following EU Approval
The CMA says the EU is "fully entitled to reach that view"
Yesterday brought the latest twist in the Xbox Activision Blizzard tale when the European Commission officially approved Microsoft's attempted merger. They now join a fairly extensive list of regions that are in favour of the deal going ahead, however, as is seemingly becoming the norm in...
Deals Xbox Is Hosting A Huge Backwards Compatibility Sale This Week (May 16-23)
A large selection of Xbox classics
Microsoft has delivered a huge batch of Xbox sales this week, with over 700 titles currently discounted across a bunch of different promotions on the Xbox Store. We're definitely interested in a lot of these! <related ids="149484"> Typically, these sales roundups also include a small-ish selection of...
Monday15th May 2023
News EU Makes Microsoft 'Automatically License' ActiBlizz Cloud Games Post-Merger
"This will apply globally", says Microsoft's president
Following today's news of the EU approval over the Xbox Activision Blizzard merger, Microsoft president Brad Smith has quickly made a follow-up statement that makes for interesting reading. While we knew of lots of individual cloud gaming deals that the Xbox owner struck with various companies...
News COD Going Xbox Exclusive 'Would Not Significantly Harm Competition', Says EU
The European Commission weighs in
Well, Xbox's huge Activision Blizzard deal has been officially approved in the EU! The region is happy with the concessions Microsoft has made in regards to cloud gaming, and going off some of the statements in its new report, the European Commission wa
News Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Approved In Europe
A major step forward
Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard has taken a huge step forward today, as the European Commission has voted to approve the deal, leaving just the UK CMA and U.S. FTC as the major roadblocks right now. In a