Well, Square Enix openly stated that it was hard to run studios 
Was there any realistic eta on when things may pass with the deal. I know they said june/July of 2023 but i thought someone said march may be possible
I think the june/July (whatever it was) was them saying itâll close in the fiscal year ending then. So it didnât really say much other than a year.
Sad part is that no one, including very smart people are able to answer that with accuracy. Most dates thrown around are speculation and people guessing.
I think a lot of the nuance gets missed out when journalists discuss the acquisition. Almost all the articles are centered around COD and the potential loss of the games ABK make from being on the playstation consoles. But thereâs so much more to it then that when King was the largest revenue generator for ABK last year and only 11% of the revenue for the whole company came from Sony.
ABK has a nice distribution of gaming in all three categories that Microsoft wants to expand in, console, PC and mobile, alongside some of the most valuable IP in the industry that hasnât been exploited enough. The company was arguably undervalued at the time of the offer when you consider that since 2018 theyâve been making $1.5bn-$2.5bn a year in profit.
Another thing that gets forgotten is that Microsoft makes insane amounts of money, they will make a profit higher then the value of this deal if it takes longer then four quarters to complete(which it likely will). They have to do something with the cash which really comes down to a few things. Stock buy backs and dividends(which they already do), internal investment and developement(which they do), banking it(a bad idea in a high inflation environment) or acquisitions. ABK was just the perfect storm for them and just too good a deal to pass up on.
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I believe the new deadline for the EUâs phase 2 was the 28th February, so itâs likely we wonât hear anything until atleast March, however it could be extended and/or other regulators may have a longer deadline.
Itâs also technically possible that the EU could finish their investigation sooner.
EDIT: It was the CMA (UK) not EU and it was the 1st March 2023.
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Where did you check for EUâs deadline?
Makes me wonder if Satyaâs visit in the UK was for interviews with CMA regulators!!
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That is what i was thinking. Isnât it normal for regulators to wait until the last day unless a concent degree is signed?
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From what I have seen from other examples (and what Hoeg Law has previously mentioned) it does seem to be the norm, although Iâm not sure if there is anything normal about this acquisition 
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I donât think this will hurt Microsoft, but it doesnât help.
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I donât think it changes anything for Microsoft.
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It could help, if it stops some abusive Sony moves.
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Well in USA, PS and Sony are competiting for real though.
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think this is more aimed at Oil companies and stuff like that, to come at Microsoft in favor of a Japanese company in todayâs climate would be the end of the democratic party.
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âabusive monopoliesâ
MS acquiring a gaming publisher that doesnât even put them in first place isnât that, it changes nothing in regards to the ABK deal
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Microsoft has also donated like 100 million over the past 5 years to democrats. Doubt they want to rock that boat.
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Oh look. Sony announcing PS5 COD Bundles. hahaha.
This creates an unfair advantage for Playstation
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