European Commission delays Microsoft-Activision deal decision deadline

The acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft It’s been under the scrutiny of regulatory authorities for a while, and it’s no surprise that a deal of this stature, valued at $69 billion if allowed to buy out, is taking so long under the microscope. The European Commission issued an antitrust warning about the deal less than a month ago, while the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the US Federal Trade Commission are also continuing to investigate the deal.

With regards specifically to the European Commission, the interim decision of the regulatory body regarding the acquisition will take a little longer to be published than previously anticipated. In recent statements to Bloomberg, the EU regulator confirmed that it is pushing back its deadline to publish a provisional decision by 10 days, to April 25, saying that given the scale of the deal, global regulators should be in no hurry to make hasty decisions.

Microsoft has taken several steps lately in an effort to allay concerns about how the deal could affect competition, should it be allowed through, it has signed binding agreements that will see it release games. Call of Duty for Nintendo and GeForce Now platforms for at least the next ten years. A similar deal is also on the table for Sony, but Microsoft says it’s nowhere near a deal with the company yet.