Will Microsoft and Activision Blizzard finally get the green light? Microsoft and Activision Britain’s competition watchdog faces a tough call on whether to wave through Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s merger as the EU and the US have done, but a green light could be down the road, experts have suggested. Microsoft’s renewed $69bn acquisition offer for gaming giant Activision Blizzard has triggered a new probe by the Competition [...]
Nintendo: Super Mario movie success helps drive 50 per cent sales surge Nintendo Nintendo has smashed forecasts for its first quarter results as the ever-popular virtual icons Mario and Zelda continue to attract gamers. The Japanese gaming company reported net sales of 461.34bn yen (£2.5bn) for the three months ended 30 June – a 50 per cent increase from the same period of 2022 and ahead of Refinitiv [...]
Nintendo crowned ‘best value for money’ as nearly 70 per cent of Brits reduce gaming spend Nintendo Nintendo’s online gaming subscription is the “best value for money” – but British gamers have spent less on products as the cost of living crisis weighs down their wallets. The Mario and Luigi creators have beaten the likes of the Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus in Indivisible Gaming’s investigation into online gaming subscriptions. An [...]
Lord Pannick: Activision hires top KC for £55bn Microsoft takeover legal challenge May 10, 2023 Computer Games company Activision Blizzard has hired Boris Johnson’s former lawyer to represent it in a £55 billion legal battle with the competition watchdog. Lord David Pannick KC, who represented the ex-prime minister through the partygate hearings, will be representing the games giant at a Competition Appeal Tribunal, the Financial Times reported. It comes after [...]
Game Over? CMA block of Activision deal to set the tone for other regulators April 26, 2023 The UK competition regulator today blocked Microsoft’s $70bn bid for the video game publisher, Activision Blizzard, citing concerns over competition in a fledgling cloud market. The move by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to scupper the deal — Microsoft’s largest acquisition — comes as a blow to the tech giant, which has already announced [...]
Sonic creator Sega offers to buy Angry Birds maker for £625 million April 17, 2023 The Japanese video game company behind ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ has offered to buy the Finland-based mobile gaming company, Rovio Entertainment Oyj, in a deal worth €706m (£625m), the companies announced on Monday. Sega Sammy has offered €9.25 per share for all outstanding shares in Rovio, which makes the mobile phone game, Angry Birds, a 19 [...]
Check mate as World Chess valued at £41.7m on London Stock Exchange debut April 6, 2023 World Chess has landed on the London Stock Exchange in a move that has priced the gaming and promotion company at £41.7m. The freshly-listed firm, which organises chess championships in both the US and UK, reaffirmed its strong cash position as it made its debut in the market revealing that half year revenue in 2022 [...]
CMA drops concerns over Microsoft takeover of Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard… for now March 24, 2023 The UK competition watchdog has provisionally dropped concerns that Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Call Of Duty developer Activision Blizzard would damage the UK console gaming market. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last month warned the 68.7 billion dollar (£56.7 billion) deal could result in higher prices, fewer choices or less innovation for UK gamers. [...]
Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Call of Duty: The perfect storm that drove UK broadband traffic to record levels February 22, 2023 The top-of-the-table Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City pushed UK broadband traffic to record levels last week, City A.M can reveal. The eagerly anticipated fixture, which was only available to stream, helped traffic on the country’s biggest broadband network to reach a new peak of 29.1 terabits per second (Tb/s). BT and EE [...]
Nintendo vows to ‘energise’ its Switch console offering following £200m cut to full-year forecast February 7, 2023 Nintendo has cut its full year forecast blaming a drop off in demand for its Switch console. The Japanese company has dimmed its full-year forecasts to a net profit of 370bn yen (£2.3bn) for the year ending 31 March, down from 400bn yen (£2.5bn) predicted last November. In the trading update, the video games manufacturer [...]