Microsoft-Activision: Ubisoft in the mix as $69 billion deal restructured

“Call of Duty” maker Activision will sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment to get the biggest deal yet in video-gaming past British regulators, potential owner Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) said on Tuesday.

Microsoft said on Tuesday it believed its new proposal was a “substantially different transaction” and that it expected the CMA review process to be completed before Oct. 18.

Here is a snapshot of key events in the Microsoft-Activision saga:

Date Development

Jan 18, Microsoft says it is buying Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) for $68.7 billion

2022

Feb 1, Bloomberg News reports that FTC would handle the review of the deal

2022

March 21, FTC has

2022 sought

additional data from Activision and Microsoft related to the antitrust

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 deadline to decide on the deal

2022

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

July 11, A U.S. judge turns down FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop

2023 the deal

July 12, Britain’s antitrust regulator says a restructured deal could satisfy its concerns,

2023 subject to a new investigation

July 13, U.S. FTC asks an appeals court to temporarily stop Microsoft from closing its purchase

2023 of Activision Blizzard, hours after a federal judge rejected a similar request

July 14, Britain’s antitrust regulator extends its final deadline to Aug. 29 after receiving a

2023 “detailed and complex” new proposal from Microsoft that claimed material changes in

circumstance

A U.S. appeals court

July 15, rejects

2023 the FTC’s request to pause Microsoft’s purchase of Activision

Microsoft

July 16, signs

2023 agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation

Microsoft’s appeal against Britain’s block on its takeover of Activision

July 17, was formally

2023 paused

Activision, Microsoft

July 19, extend

2023 deal deadline by three months to Oct. 18 to secure UK approval

Microsoft, Activision

July 19, urge

2023 U.S. to drop case against deal before internal FTC judge

U.S. FTC official

July 20, withdraws

2023 case against Microsoft-Activision deal before internal agency judge

Microsoft-Activision deal

July 21, back

2023 in hands of UK regulator after court pauses appeal

UK regulator

July 31, seeks

2023 public input on Microsoft-Activision deal

Activision

Aug 22, will sell

2023 its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment to get