Nearly 20 months after Microsoft said that it would be acquiring Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash (the largest video game acquisition in history by value), the deal is finally expected to close after months of legal battles by different antitrust watchers.

The main opposition came from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which was concerned particularly with competition in the cloud gaming sector, which it said is an “important and rapidly developing market.”

Microsoft, though, were able to convince them by restructuring the acquisition to include a deal which would transfer cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles to Ubisoft. Now, the historical acquisition is all set to go ahead.

Microsoft now all set to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion

Microsoft’s vice chairman and president, Brad Smith, immediately reacted to the approval, saying that they were grateful for the CMA’s “thorough review and decision today.”

“We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close the acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide.”

Getting here hasn’t been an easy task for Microsoft. Sony has been vocal against the deal ever since it was announced, fearing that the tech giant might make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox. However, Microsoft and Sony were able to agree to a 10-year deal to keep the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation after the acquisition.

US’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is still opposed to the deal

The FTC has been opposed to the deal, even going to the courts to file a preliminary injunction. A federal judge, however, ruled in Microsoft’s favor, saying that it didn’t find a “likelihood” that the deal would reduce competition, allowing for the deal to proceed.

However, the FTC filed an appeal against the order in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which was also denied in July 2023, leading to the FTC withdrawing its challenge to block the acquisition. However, it later reopened its case against the merger in September, but won’t be able to block it by the Oct. 18 deadline, which looks to be cleared after the CMA approval today.

Nonetheless, the FTC’s case against Microsoft did bring something big for Xbox fans. This came in September when the US District Court leaked confidential documents detailing Xbox’s future plans, which the court said was Microsoft’s fault. The leak revealed a new disc-less Xbox Series X, a new and better controller, and a next-gen console by 2028.

Read also: Microsoft Announces 10-Year Partnership with Nvidia GeForce Now