Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, And The Future Of Gaming
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 July 2023
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint against the deal, saying it would harm competition in the gaming market. That case went to trial — and Microsoft came out on top,
And the deal still faces roadblocks in the United Kingdom, where the Competition and Markets Authority initially blocked the deal and is now holding a hearing to review it next month.
But despite those roadblocks, the deal is set to close. And it may change the business of video games for the foreseeable future.
We discuss the buyout and how this acquisition could affect the future of gaming.
Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | What would be the biggest tech acquisition in history is set to close any day now. |
| 0:12.8 | Microsoft's $68.7 billion deal to buy video game developer Activision Blizzard was first |
| 0:18.5 | announced in January of 2022. |
| 0:21.5 | Federal Trade Commission sued to stop that deal, arguing it would harm competition in gaming, |
| 0:26.0 | which is a huge market. |
| 0:27.9 | There are three billion players worldwide. |
| 0:30.8 | The FTC also questioned who would have access to Activision's biggest title, the Call of |
| 0:34.8 | Duty franchise in the future. |
| 0:37.1 | That case went to trial last month, but a federal judge in California denied the commission's |
| 0:41.1 | request for a preliminary injunction to slow down the deal. |
| 0:44.7 | Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley wrote, quote, evidence points to more consumer access to Call of |
| 0:49.3 | Duty and other Activision content. |
| 0:51.8 | Now the deal still faces roadblocks in the United Kingdom, where the competition and markets |
| 0:55.6 | authority first blocked it and has scheduled a hearing to review it next month. |
| 1:00.0 | But despite that, the deal is expected to go through and that will change the business |
| 1:03.9 | of gaming. |
| 1:04.9 | We'll get into that and what it means for you. |
| 1:07.1 | The story is the latest in our series Game Mode. |
| 1:09.5 | Game Mode is one A's coverage of video games and the gaming industry. |
| 1:12.9 | I'm NPR, David Gara, InfraGenWhite. |
| 1:15.4 | You're listening to the 1A podcast where we get to the heart of the story. |
| 1:18.7 | We'll be back with more in just a moment. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.