What's Next for Xbox After the FTC Trial Verdict? We Asked the Experts

ign.com:

In the year and a half since Xbox announced its intentions to acquire Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 billion way back in January of 2022, it's felt at times like we're all just kids in the backseat of a car asking, "Are we there yet?." Everyone's a little sick of hearing about it by now, but every few weeks it seems like there's a new trial, a new document, a new email, or something else to bring forward more speculation of whether or not the deal will go through. Yesterday's verdict denying the FTC’s request for a pause on the deal until its August hearing is another such moment.

But after months of waiting, it seems like the answer is finally, “Yes, we’re here.” According to the analysts and legal experts I’ve spoken with in the wake of the verdict, Xbox’s long-delayed acquisition of Activision Blizzard is now on track to be completed.

There are some asterisks on that, of course. There's the CMA rejection in the UK to deal with, and the FTC has at least a few more swings left despite its poor batting average to this point. But with a deal finally set to close any day now, let's look at how we got here, and what's coming next for the biggest deal in video game history:

First, let's back up a bit. When Microsoft announced its intent to buy Activision Blizzard, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a complaint suggesting that such a deal would ultimately harm competition in the games market. An evidentiary hearing was planned for August 2, but with the deal being set to go through on July 18, the FTC would have had to examine the deal retroactively. To solve this, the FTC moved for a preliminary injunction that would halt the merger until then. Microsoft wanted to avoid this for a number of reasons, as pausing the deal