Microsoft completed its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard on Friday, closing the largest transaction in the history of the video-game industry after nearly 21 months of regulatory challenges in the United States, United Kingdom and European Union. Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer announced that Activision Blizzard King’s studios had officially joined Xbox in a company statement published after the deal closed.

The transaction gives Microsoft control of major franchises including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch and Candy Crush. It also expands the company’s position across console, personal-computer, mobile and subscription gaming at a time when cloud distribution is emerging as a central competitive issue.

The final obstacle was cloud gaming in Britain

The closing became possible after the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority approved a restructured transaction. The CMA had blocked the original deal in April because it concluded Microsoft could gain too much control over the developing cloud-gaming market. In the revised structure, Activision’s cloud-streaming rights outside the European Economic Area will be transferred to Ubisoft rather than acquired by Microsoft. The regulator said that remedy preserved an independent path for Activision content to reach competing cloud services.

In its October 13 decision, the CMA said the concession would prevent Microsoft from locking up Activision’s cloud rights and would maintain competitive pressure on prices and service. The agency separately published the merger inquiry record, including the accepted undertakings and consent to close.

The unusual structure shows how competition policy can reshape a technology transaction even when regulators ultimately allow it to proceed. Microsoft is buying the game publisher, but not every right that would otherwise have come with the publisher.

U.S. opposition continues despite closing

The Federal Trade Commission has opposed the merger since December 2022, arguing that ownership of Activision could let Microsoft disadvantage rival consoles, subscription services and cloud-gaming providers. The FTC’s original complaint focused on whether Microsoft could withhold or degrade access to key games after integrating Activision into Xbox.

The agency failed this summer to secure a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the transaction while its administrative case proceeded. Its broader case docket remains an important part of the regulatory record even though the companies have now closed.

That distinction matters. Completion transfers control of Activision to Microsoft, but it does not erase ongoing legal scrutiny. The acquisition now enters a phase in which the competitive effects will be measured through licensing decisions, platform availability, subscription strategy and pricing rather than debated only in pre-merger forecasts.

The corporate combination is now legally effective

Activision Blizzard confirmed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the merger became effective October 13 when the certificate of merger was filed in Delaware. Activision simultaneously ended its status as an independent public company and became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary.

The publisher described the change in its own announcement as the beginning of a new chapter with Xbox. The combined organization now includes some of the industry’s largest console, PC and mobile businesses under one corporate parent.

For Microsoft, the acquisition substantially increases first-party content available to support Xbox Game Pass and other services. For competitors, the practical question is whether Microsoft honors the cross-platform and licensing commitments it made during the regulatory process. Call of Duty, in particular, became the centerpiece of negotiations because of its scale and importance to rival console ecosystems.

Regulators have changed the terms of the deal, not its strategic logic

The basic rationale remains what it was when Microsoft announced the agreement in January 2022: use Activision’s content, studios and mobile presence to strengthen Microsoft’s gaming ecosystem. What changed is the set of restrictions around that strategy.

The Washington Post reported that the deal closed after an unusually prolonged global antitrust battle. The episode illustrates a broader trend in technology regulation, where major platform acquisitions are receiving deeper scrutiny over how ownership of content, distribution systems and infrastructure can reinforce one another.

Friday’s closing ends the transaction phase but begins the integration phase. Microsoft must now combine tens of thousands of employees and major studios while demonstrating that the competitive protections negotiated with regulators produce meaningful access for consumers and rivals.

The acquisition is therefore both a corporate milestone and a test case. Microsoft has won control of one of gaming’s most valuable portfolios, but it has done so under a set of public commitments and regulatory remedies that will shape how that portfolio can be used.