Microsoft-Activision deal: Key things to know

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Microsoft on Wednesday faced its biggest challenge yet in its effort to buy US video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard, with the decision by the UK to block the deal.

The transaction, which was expected to be finalized this year, would beef up Microsoft's muscle in the booming gaming market while playing to its strengths in software and cloud computing.

Here are key things to know about the blockbuster transaction:

Buying Activision, the maker of "Call of Duty" and "Candy Crush", would make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.

China-based Tencent is the biggest player in terms of revenue, dominating the Asian market and investing in game studios across the world.

The firm owns Riot Games, maker of battle royale hit "League of Legends," and has stakes in French game star Ubisoft.

It also acquired the Finnish studio Supercell ("Clash of Clans", "Clash Royale", "Brawl Stars") in 2016 for $8.6 billion -- a record at the time.

Japanese consumer electronics colossus Sony has sold more than 500 million PlayStation consoles since 1994.

Through a subsidiary, it controls a host of studios -- including Insomniac and Housemarque -- that have developed exclusive titles for its machines such as the "Spider-Man" saga.

It strengthened its portfolio in January 2022 with a $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, the makers of "Halo" and "Destiny", though "Halo" is still owned by Microsoft.

Sony also invested $2 billion in April 2022 in Epic Games, the company behind "Fortnite".

To keep up, Microsoft has been adding to its stable of game studios as it invests in developing the Xbox consoles as well as the trend of games being streamed directly from the cloud.

But in January 2022, the American behemoth pitched