Microsoftannounced its intent to acquireActivisionback in January 2022, but so far it has only seen pushback from the EU, UK’s CMA, and the USA’s FTC. These three regulatory authorities are investigating the effects this acquisition could have on the gaming industry and other players in it, and theFTC has also sued the tech giantin its bid to take over the Call of Duty developer. Now, it seems the possible acquisition will be delayed even further according to the FTC’s new schedule for the hearing of the case.
As reported byGamesradar, the FTC published its scheduling order on July 26, 2025, which now extends the date for the hearings beyond June all the way up till August 2023. There are other key dates mentioned in this timeline of seven months which includes deadlines for the parties involved to submit documents and make their case.
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The pre-trial hearing for the lawsuit concluded recently, and it looked likeMicrosoft wasn’t keen on a settlement. Although, it didretract its earlier statement calling the FTC’s lawsuit “unconstitutional”.
An acquisition of this magnitude was always going to be time-consuming, but Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said that he wasconfident that the deal will close by June 2023. That likely won’t be the case anymore after this revelation, and it might stretch beyond August based on the FTC’s ruling on the matter. Incidentally, the CMA’s investigation in this matter was alsorecently delayed by two months, and the UK watchdog’s report will now arrive on April 26.
Sony, one of Microsoft’s biggest rivals, has been the most vocal in its stance against this deal. SIE’s Jim Ryan alsoallegedly flew to Europe to convince the EU to block this deal, as the future of Call of Duty games on PlayStation was in doubt, despiteMicrosoft having offered to keep it on PlayStation for a decade.
Microsoft has some support fromChile, Saudi Arabia, andBrazil, who have approved this merger. The Communication Workers of America (CWA) has alsoextended its support for thisas it might improve working conditions for Activision-Blizzard employees.
