Activision and Microsoft’s blockbuster deal might soon receive green flag by the EU regulators

Sony has not yet agreed to the comparable 10-year arrangement that Microsoft has made available to it for upcoming Call of Duty games

EU regulators are expected to accept Microsoft's proposed takeover of Activision Blizzard, as per Reuters. Recent license agreements between the tech giant and Nintendo and Nvidia are expected to please European legislators and help Microsoft close its $68.7 billion acquisition, according to Reuters. According to reports, the European Commission is unlikely to require Microsoft to relinquish any Activision Blizzard assets in order to receive regulatory approval. Contrast that with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which last month proposed potential remedies that included forcing Microsoft to divest itself of Activision Blizzard's business related to Call of Duty.

Only hours before a crucial EU meeting last month, Microsoft disclosed that it had struck a legally binding 10-year agreement with Nintendo to deliver Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms. After its meeting with EU regulators, Microsoft staged a special news conference in Brussels to declare a comparable agreement with Nvidia. Sony has not yet agreed to the comparable 10-year arrangement that Microsoft has made available to it for upcoming Call of Duty games. Yet, Microsoft continues to be subject to stringent regulatory review in the US and UK. Earlier last year, the FTC filed a lawsuit to try to stop the deal, and the CMA's preliminary findings indicate that it prefers structural solutions like selling the Call of Duty business over behavioral ones like access remedies and licensing agreements.