Phil Spencer Says The Activision Deal Was "Well Beyond Anything I've Ever Done"

thegamer.com:

The video games industry is going through some major shakes, as January saw huge deals being announced. First, the owners of Rockstar and the GTA franchise, Take-Two Interactive, bought out mobile games publisher Zynga for a huge $12.7 billion, which was then the biggest video games deal.

The very end of January saw Sony unveil their buyout of Bungie, the creators of Destiny, for $3.6 billion. But in between these two acquisitions, the industry was shaken by Microsoft unleashing their mammoth deal for Activision Blizzard for an unprecedented $68.7 billion.

Related: Microsoft’s Acquisition Of Activision Blizzard Is Seismic, But The Crown In The Deal Might Be King

Speaking to the Axios newsletter, the head of Xbox Phil Spencer has revealed that the Activision deal was "well beyond anything I've ever done". Spencer, who joined Microsoft in 1988, and was promoted to CEO of Microsoft Gaming last month, said the planned buyout was personally "daunting" but downplayed the influence his company would have over the wider industry.

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard isn't expected to be completed until end of the financial year 2023, and the deal faces hurdles. It could face a strict review process from the Federal Trade Commission, which is taking the lead over the Justice Department, reported Bloomberg. These two bodies are responsible for reviewing deals of this nature, but the FTC is seen as being harsher on big tech especially as its head, Lina Khan, has been publicly outspoken on monopolies.

Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick faces investigations over allegations of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct. When asked about whether Kotick would be let off the hook, Spencer responded that "one