This Sony/Microsoft CMA case is starting to get a lot more fun than anything in Apple/Epic case. If this continues, the entire confidential gaming industry info might end up being public. And those Sony arguments... I can't believe they can even win with this. I hope CMA gets investigated for corruption if they block the deal. Microsoft simply can't lose this objectively unless CMA is sitting on Sony's pay check.

Have you smashed your PS4 already?

Sony is just so obsessed with Call of Duty that they risk digging their own grave, worsening the relationships with third party publishers 

To add to the list, it didn't help that Battlefield has been getting worse and worse in gameplay aspect as well with each new entry. Battlefield 3 was probably the peak for DICE.

True. A bit sad fact, but I doubt there is a single Microsoft game outside maybe Forza Horizon franchise that managed to surpass even 10m sales in the last decade.

When all the talks about CoD importance started from Sony side, I wondered why nobody cares about Destiny. Microsoft should just use the same argument against Sony. Yes, Destiny is not as big as CoD but it's still very popular. Yet, it wasn't a concern for some reason that Sony might leave Xbox gamers without Destiny when THAT deal was approved.

The Federal Trade Commission is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft's $69 billion takeover of video game giant Activision Blizzard, maker of the hit games Call of Duty and Candy Crush, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

A lawsuit would be the FTC’s biggest move yet under Chair Lina Khan to rein in the power of the world’s largest technology companies. It would also be a major black mark for Microsoft, which has positioned itself as a white knight of sorts on antitrust issues in the tech sector after going through its own grueling regulatory antitrust battles around the world more than two decades ago.

A lawsuit challenging the deal is not guaranteed, and the FTC's four commissioners have yet to vote out a complaint or meet with lawyers for the companies, two of the people said. However, the FTC staff reviewing the deal are sceptical of the companies' arguments, those people said.

The investigation remains ongoing, but much of the heavy lifting is completed, including depositions of Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and Activision head Bobby Kotick, the people with knowledge of the investigation said. If the agency does move ahead with a case, it could come as soon as next month, said the people, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss a confidential matter.

Feds Likely to Challenge Microsoft’s $69 Billion Activision Takeover - POLITICO

If FTC does this, then it will show that they've learnt absolutely nothing about why people wanted them to rein in certain companies.

They're just looking at the first big company they find making a large acquisition and going after it, burning their limited funding on a dumb as fuck battle instead of going after companies that actually harm their markets in significant ways. They'll likely pat themselves on the back afterwards and say to the public "see, we did something about big tech!" and then do fuck all about the rest, Lol.

Damn…….if Politico is reporting this, there is a LOT of merit to these claims

Shits about to get real 

FTC has been on a losing streak lately, between the DOJ/FTC they've lost 4 attempted blocks of company acquisitions/mergers through the courts.

They're desperate for a win...I see this going two ways now.

• If only FTC sues to block, Microsoft takes them to court and easily wins.
• If FTC sues to block and it influences CMA to sue to block, the deal is dead.

If FTC sues, I have no doubt the CMA will follow suit. They’ve shown way too much one sidedness in the investigation where they wouldn’t be able to ignore a major agency such as the FTC being the first to deal a major blow to the deal. 

This would most likely cause a domino effect amongst other agencies that have yet to make a decision. I’m down to the deal passing to 30% 

"According to Hoeg they can’t get concessions unless they prep a lawsuit and tell Microsoft they’re going to sue."

Third option, it could be an attempt to get concessions out of Microsoft.

FTC has been on a losing streak lately so if it were just them, I wouldn't be worried at all, I am worried about what it would mean for CMA though, with how awful their Phase 1 was conducted, one of the large regulatory bodies blocking could encourage them to do the same and CMA has way less oversight than FTC which makes challenging it near impossible.

Another issue is that if the court case takes too long, I.E. If it goes beyond July 2023 then the acquisition has to be renegotiated or break up and both sides have to agree to that, Activision-Blizzard are in a brilliant spot right now so they'll definitely ask for more from Microsoft, likely a lot more and it will then depend on if Microsoft wants to pay that much extra.

"Google is also an opponent of the deal, according to two of the people with knowledge of the matter. The company has argued that Microsoft has purposely degraded the quality of its Game Pass subscription service when used with Google's Chrome operating system and owning Activision would further its incentive to do so, ultimately steering hardware sales towards Microsoft and away from Google, the people said."

I see Google has pulled out the paranoid delusions, Lol. Maybe it's because xCloud is a WIP? Edge uses Chromium you idiots and Microsoft goes out their way to optimise xCloud for fucking Linux. What benefit is there for them to purposely degrade xCloud on Chromium systems?

This is the tweet; FTC has to file a lawsuit so they can file a consent for concessions.

So, if the sources are correct, FTC is preparing to get concessions out of Microsoft at minimum and attempting to block it at maximum.

I'm 50% on this deal passing at this stage though.