Microsoft's Blizzard acquisition could face an inquisition

techradar.com:

 What are the odds that on the very day Microsoft announced its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Entertainment, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice would announce their joint plan to review merger guidelines?

It was a coincidence, but the two departments couldn't sidestep the serendipity during a virtual press conference on Tuesday where more than one reporter asked how potential changes to antitrust laws could impact such a blockbuster deal.

Press conference organizers deemed the acquisition off-topic, and U.S. Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said «We want to be very clear. We don't have any comment on any pending or any merger out there — none of it.»

That was the answer for DOJ and FTC Commissioners Noah Joshua Phillips and Christine S. Wilson, as well. 

On the other hand, both governmental bodies want to collect public comments on the current state of merger and acquisition law, draft updated guidelines, and seek further comments all before the end of this year.

Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is unlikely to close until sometime later in 2023. Put simply, there's more than enough time for it to fall under scrutiny set by new FTC and DOJ merger rules.

First, though, let's talk about the deal. Microsoft's prepared to pay almost $70B for Activision Blizzard, which not only brings games like Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Diablo under the Microsoft (and ostensibly Xbox) umbrella, it adds in World of Warcraft and even mobile games like the hugely popular Candy Crush (part of King). There are also massive amounts of intellectual property from Tony Hawk to Crash Bandicoot, and Skylanders.

The deal could put huge titles on Game Pass, Microsoft's popular games subscription