This approval "represents a significant improvement for cloud gaming."

Hot on the heels of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocking the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard comes the approval of the merger from the European Commission (EC). This approval brings Microsoft's $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard that much closer to being completed.

Interestingly, the European Commission had very similar conclusions and concerns...

At least this one isn't about cloud gaming.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard on the grounds of how it would stifle cloud gaming competition. As absolutely ridiculous as that sounds, that wasn't the only weird thing the CMA decreed during yesterday's vote and report.

The CMA also claims in their final report (PDF link) that Nintendo's consoles are not technically capable of running games like Call of...

Arkane's Harvey Smith says a planned PS5 version was scrapped following Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda.

Redfall is an upcoming cooperative FPS that will have you and up to three additional friends roaming the town of Redfall slaying vampires. Redfall was announced as being exclusive for PC and Xbox platforms, which does make a lot of sense seeing as how the developer, Arkane, is owned by Bethesda and Bethesda is owned by Microsoft.

In an interview with IGN France,...

The deal will bring some titles to Nintendo platforms and Nvidia's streaming services.

Microsoft has agreed to a 10-year deal that will bring Xbox titles to Nvidia's cloud streaming services and to Nintendo platforms. This is being done in an effort to appease antitrust regulators that still feel as though Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard would lead to anti-competitive behavior or even a monopoly.

In the deal with Nvidia, games like Minecraft...

In case you wanted another reason to want the acquisition to be approved.

Current Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick, will remain as the CEO of the company should Microsoft's $69 billion (USD) acquisition be blocked by regulators. This is according to sources speaking to Fox Business. They flatly say that if the deal falls through, Bobby Kotick "will absolutely remain at the gaming giant to run the company."

Unfortunately, it's not particularly clear what...

The settlement is neither an admission of guilt nor a denial of any wrongdoing.

Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay $35 million (USD) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a settlement over charges that the company failed to maintain adequate workplace harassment reporting procedures. Part of this $35 million settlement is also because Activision Blizzard violated federal whistleblower protection rules.

According to the SEC, Activision Blizzard failed to...

The Gamers™ are rising up.

About two weeks back, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that they have filed a lawsuit in an effort to block the $69 billion (USD) acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. Yesterday, a new lawsuit was filed in an effort to stop this acquisition, this time by a group of Call of Duty players, or "video gamers" as the suit refers to them.

This new lawsuit is a private consumer complaint from 10 players. The suit claims...

Back, the console wars are.

Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer says that PlayStation wants to "protect their dominance on console." He continues on to say, "the way they grow is by making Xbox smaller." These statements by Spencer were said on the Second Request podcast.

Spencer says that Sony just wants to retain its console dominance by opposing Xbox's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. His full statement can be seen here.



Spencer...

The FTC just filed a complaint to stop the acquisition.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States of America (USA) just filed a new complaint today that aims to block Microsoft's $69 billion (USD) acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This complaint is essentially a lawsuit, or a legal block, that will place at least a temporary stop to the acquisition being approved until such a point that this complaint is settled. This news comes in an email that the FTC sent to me this...

This commitment will start with the Nintendo Switch.

As the day came to a close on December 6, Xbox head Phil Spencer took to Twitter to announce a "10-year commitment" to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo platforms. This commitment would begin with bringing titles to the Nintendo Switch. This would, of course, depend on whether or not the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard is approved.

Curiously, Spencer also revealed that they are making an identical...

The reveal comes as the Microsoft-Activision deal faces harsh scrutiny.

The $69 billion (USD) deal that would see Microsoft acquire Activision Blizzard is still very much the focus of intense scrutiny from several of the world's regulation authorities. Apparently, one of the big issues that this regulators have is with the idea that Microsoft will pull several long-running multi-platform titles from those non-Microsoft platforms. Obviously, the Call of Duty franchise is one of the...

What will the apology compensation be for Overwatch 2 as a whole though?

Blizzard is offering players double XP, a weapon charm, and a free skin in an effort to apologize for the abysmal launch of Overwatch 2. The studio extended a written apology to fans for the myriad of issues that impacted the game for several days right when the game launched on October 4, 2022.

Overwatch 2 will have several double XP weekends coming up that will let players catch up. The game was...