Microsoft is "very confident" the Activision Blizzard deal will go through

The by far biggest announcement of the year happened back in January when Microsoft announced their intent to purchase Activision Blizzard. But as this is the biggest purchase they have ever made, and also bigger than the 10 following biggest video game related purchases of all time combined - there are a couple of antitrust hurdles along the road, as the deal needs to be approved on several markets.

The Activision Blizzard takeover isn't expected to be settled until summer 2023, and while things have been moving forward, there are some markets that have asked for extra clarification, with Sony adding arguments of why this shouldn't happen. But Microsoft does not seem to be worried at all.

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella was interviewed by Bloomberg yesterday and said:

"Of course, any acquisition of this size will go through scrutiny, but we feel very, very confident that we'll come out."

Nadella also added that Microsoft is only the fourth or fifth biggest video game company (depending on how you count), with Sony being the largest, while stating: "So if this is about competition, let us have competition."

The discussion is mainly about the Call of Duty franchise, with Sony saying that "giving Microsoft control of Activision games like Call of Duty... would have major negative implications for gamers and the future of the gaming industry". It should be noted though that PlayStation has got exclusive content for Call of Duty for almost ten years, and Microsoft has already said that they will honour Sony's marketing deals with Activision Blizzard for future titles. The Xbox boss Phil Spencer has also confirmed on several occasions that PlayStation would get Call of Duty for "several more years beyond the current Sony contract".

What do you think about all this, will the deal ultimately go through?