The latest news on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard

Microsoft is attempting to persuade regulators around the world to clear its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard — the biggest deal of its kind the gaming industry

has ever seen. Amid concerns about its effect on competition in the industry, and in the face of ardent lobbying against the deal by competitor Sony, the U.S. Federal Trade

Commission has said it will attempt to block the deal legally, while the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority has also expressed skepticism. Here’s the latest on

Microsoft’s plans to snap up Activision Blizzard. Google and Nvidia have reportedly raised concerns about the deal According to Bloomberg, Google and Nvidia have both echoed Sony

in expressing their concerns to the FTC about the potential of the merger to squash competition, strengthening the regulator’s case as it prepares to bring it before the courts

in August. Neither is as direct a competitor to Microsoft in gaming as Sony is, but both have some overlap. Nvidia’s main business is manufacturing graphics cards, but it also

has a streaming service, GeForce Now, that is perhaps the closest competitor to Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming initiative. (GeForce Now does not seem to currently carry any major

Activision Blizzard games.) Nvidia reportedly does not directly oppose the deal, but stressed the need for open and equal access to Activision Blizzard’s games. Google’s own

streaming service, Stadia, is about to shut down. But the company has a big interest in mobile gaming via its Google Play store and Android operating system, and acquiring mobile

behemoth King (Candy Crush) as part of the Activision Blizzard deal will make Microsoft a much bigger player in the space. Most likely, its complaint is just one tech giant trying

to curb the influence of another. Microsoft says it hopes to bring its pro-union approach to Activision Blizzard On Jan. 6, as reported by The Verge, Microsoft ran an ad in the

Washington Post highlighting its acceptance of unions, co-signed by the Communication Workers of America union. “As we enter a new year, we remain committed to creating the best

workplaces we can for people who make a living in the tech sector. When both labor and management bring their voices to the bargaining table, employees, shareholders and customers

alike benefit,” the note reads. Then it adds: “During 2023, we hope to bring the same agreement and principles to Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft has proposed to

acquire.” This is certainly a pitch to the FTC that Microsoft can improve working conditions at Activision Blizzard, which has shown resistance to a move to unionize among its