What You Missed This Week in Video Games

Microsoft appeals CMA decision over Activision deal

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: 

This week’s major new release is Capcom’s (CCOEY) “Street Fighter 6,” which launches June 2 on PlayStation 4 (SONY), PS5, Xbox Series X/S (MSFT), and PC.

MICROSOFT/ACTIVISION: 

Following the EU’s approval of Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Activision Blizzard (ATVI), the two companies filed a formal appeal with the U.K.’s Competition Appeal Tribunal after British regulators decided to block the deal, according to media reports. Following the appeal, EU Competition Chief Margrethe Vestager says the EU and the U.K. disagreeing on the deal raises “important questions” and the EU was swayed by the proposed remedies, Bloomberg’s Samuel Stolton reported last week. “Where we diverged with the CMA was on remedies,” she said at a Brussels conference. “We accepted a 10-year free license to consumers to allow them to stream all Activision games for which they have a license via any cloud service. And why did we do this instead of blocking the merger? Well, to us, this solution fully addressed our concerns. And on top of that, it had significant pro-competitive effects.”

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal’s Sarah E. Needleman reported Monday that Activision’s “Call of Duty” franchise is at the center of the debate over whether the transaction could give the Xbox maker an unfair edge to dominate the gaming industry. The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority mentioned Call of Duty 41 times in the 20-page summary of its decision to reject the deal last month. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission cited the game 18 times in its 23-page complaint to quash the deal in December. The European Union approved the deal this month but only after Microsoft pledged to allow competitors to stream Call of Duty and other Activision games over the cloud, the author noted.

Additionally, a Microsoft representative confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that Microsoft has won approval from regulators in South Korea for its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The Korea Fair Trade Commission passed the deal unconditionally, according to GamesIndustry.biz’s James Batchelor.

ZELDA U.K. SALES: 

Nintendo’s (NTDOY) latest hit “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” has claimed its third consecutive top spot in the U.K.’s weekly physical game sale charts, according to Gamesindustry.biz’s Christopher Dring. Sales of the Switch exclusive title dropped 50% week-on-week, though it its still comfortably ahead of second place, held by Electronic Arts’ (EA) “FIFA 23,” Dring says, citing data from GfK. Other top selling games for the week were Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) “Hogwarts Legacy,” Nintendo’s “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe,” and EA’s “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.”

OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:

• At its PlayStation Showcase event, Sony unveiled a new trailer for upcoming PS5 game “Spider-Man 2” and hosted announcement trailers for Konami’s (KONMY) “Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater” and the VR version of Capcom’s “Resident Evil 4” remake [read more]
• Sony has slowed down development on its upcoming multiplayer “Last of Us” game, Bloomberg reports [read more]
• Ubisoft (UBSFY) said its remake of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is in the conception phase [read more]

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Originally Posted May 30, 2023 – What You Missed This Week in Video Games