Microsoft’s Activision deal likely to be approved by EU regulators, says Reuters

Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard is likely to be approved by EU regulators, Reuters reports. The software giant struck licensing deals with Nintendo and Nvidia recently, and Reuters says these deals are likely to satisfy lawmakers in Europe to help Microsoft clear its $68.7 billion deal.

The European Commission is reportedly unlikely to demand that Microsoft sell any Activision Blizzard assets as a condition of regulatory approval. That’s a contrast to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which offered up possible remedies last month that include Microsoft being forced to sell off Activision Blizzard’s business associated with Call of Duty.

EU regulators are scheduled to decide on Microsoft’s Activision deal by April 25th, and it appears that last-minute licensing agreements with Nintendo and Nvidia may have helped win favor for Microsoft in Europe.

Microsoft revealed it had signed a binding 10-year agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms just hours before a key EU meeting last month. Microsoft then held a special press event in Brussels after its meeting with EU regulators to announce a similar deal with Nvidia. Microsoft has also offered Sony a similar 10-year deal on new Call of Duty games, but the PlayStation maker hasn’t signed a deal yet.

Microsoft still faces close regulatory scrutiny in the UK and US, though. The FTC sued to try and block the deal late last year, and the CMA provisional findings suggest it favors structural remedies like selling off the Call of Duty business over behavioral ones like access remedies and licensing agreements.