Microsoft says a Sony deal with Activision stops Call of Duty coming to Game Pass

Table of Content

• From SMP to YPOG: Business law firm with new name and expanded partner base
• Akdital’s Initial Public Offering
• O’Melveny to Add 11 New Partners in 2023
• KazMunayGas’s $330 Million Initial Public Offering
• Microsoft and Viasat are using satellites to bring 10 million people online
• Açolab Ventures FIP’s Investment in Modularis

The joint lead managers (Goldman Sachs, Santander and Société Générale)... AgroFibra announced its debut on the Mexican Stock Exchange on Dec. 9.

Unfortunately, the footnote ends there, so there's not much in the way of detail about what these restrictions are or how long they'd remain in effect in a potential post-acquisition world. Given COD's continued non-appearance on Game Pass, you've got to imagine the restrictions are fairly significant if they're not an outright block on COD coming to the service. Microsoft says these same principles will also apply to the future Xbox mobile store, which could be enough to lure developers onto the platform.

From SMP to YPOG: Business law firm with new name and expanded partner base

Microsoft’s acknowledgment of a mobile gaming push comes as the company increasingly positions Xbox Cloud Gaming as an option for mobile gaming on emerging handhelds. Microsoft was quick to support Xbox Cloud Gaming on Valve’s Steam Deck, followed by a partnership with Logitech and Razer for their cloud gaming-focused handhelds. That means a push into mobile gaming could happen on multiple fronts — not just on phones and tablets. Microsoft is building an Xbox mobile store to directly offer games on mobile devices, challenging Apple and Google. The software giant first hinted at a “next-generation” store it would “build for games” earlier this year but has now quietly revealed details of the plans in filings with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority . Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal is key to the company’s mobile gaming efforts.

Royal London Asset Management agreed for the lease of The Earnshaw on New Oxford Street,... Simpson Thacher represented Western Asset High Income Fund II Inc. in the transaction. Western Asset High Income Fund II Inc. (the “Fund”) annoounced an SEC-registered at-the-market equity... Simpson Thacher represented Gordon Dyal & Co. in the transaction.

Akdital’s Initial Public Offering

The agreement involved Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund’s GBP7bn longevity transaction, with... Freitas Ferraz Advogados advised Açolab Ventures FIP on the transaction. BVZ Advogados advised Modularis Offsite Building Modularis secured an investment by Açolab Ventures FIP. The Açolab Ventures fund is... Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors. When he spoke to Sony bosses in January and confirmed Microsoft's "intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard". Gowling WLG advised Royal London Asset Management on the deal.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advised a consortium of lenders on the deal. Bank of Baroda led a INR 3,940 crore financig extended to JSW Renewable Energy Limited for... Oman Broadband Company, wholly owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman, was involved in a major... White & Case LLP has advised the Egyptian government, represented by the National Authority for Tunnels, on the award of the contract for the operation and... UUBO advised the European Investment Bank on the deal.

O’Melveny to Add 11 New Partners in 2023

Microsoft is quietly building a mobile Xbox store that will rely on Activision and King games. The CMA and other regulators now have the unenviable task of untangling these arguments between Sony and Microsoft and figuring out exactly how this deal could harm consumers or competition. Microsoft still hopes to close this deal out by spring 2023, but there’s a good chance we have months of battles ahead — as well as the opportunity to gain rare insights, as with these mobile plans, into the secret ambitions of the gaming industry. However, a big potential stumbling block for Microsoft’s mobile gaming ambitions could be its control of Call of Duty on both mobile and console. Microsoft has seen success with Xbox Game Pass, and it has made it clear it wants to bring Activision games to the service.

But even if Call of Duty stays on PlayStation, Sony could still lose out on serious revenue if Microsoft offers the title on Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft previously claimed that Sony is paying for “blocking rights” to keep some games off Xbox Game Pass and now says that’s the case with Call of Duty. “The agreement between Activision Blizzard and Sony includes restrictions on the ability of Activision Blizzard to place Call of Duty titles on Game Pass for a number of years,” says Microsoft in its filings. In a graph posted at Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition site, the company depicts the entire gaming market as worth $165 billion in 2020, with consoles making up $33 billion , PCs at $40 billion , and mobile gaming at $85 billion .

One company that might be particularly interested is Epic Games, which has allied itself with Microsoft in the past few years in the fight against Apple’s App Store policies. KazMunayGas , a state-owned oil and gas company in Kazakhstan, executed its initial public offering for... The irony of Sony making deals like this one while fretting about COD's future on PlayStation probably isn't lost on Microsoft's lawyers, which is no doubt part of why they brought it up to the CMA.

Regulators are now weighing how this would impact competition. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney welcomed Microsoft’s first hints at an open app store model in 2019 ahead of a giant battle between Epic and Apple a year later that saw Fortnite disappear from iPhones. Epic has been arguing that Apple should allow third-party payment systems in its App Store or even allow rival app stores to function on iPhones and iPads.

Microsoft and Viasat are using satellites to bring 10 million people online

This disagreement has spilled out into a public war of words between Sony’s PlayStation chief and Microsoft’s head of Xbox, but the real conflict is happening behind closed doors. Building a successful rival to the Google Play Store or App Store would be a huge challenge, though, and Microsoft will need to woo third-party developers if it hopes to make inroads. Khaitan & Co. advised Poonawalla Fincorp Limited on the deal. Poonawalla Fincorp Limited has entered into definitive agreements for sale of its... Aldar Properties PJSC agreed for an exclusive partnership with Nobu Hospitality to develop a new luxury hotel, branded residences,... Allen & Overy LLP advised the Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund on the deal.

Novozymes A/S announced its definitive agreement to acquire Chr. The deal was made public in Microsoft's submission to the UK market regulator. Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. Epic eventually called on Microsoft to help argue its case in court, and Microsoft cranked up the pressure on Apple with some significant Windows store changes days ahead of the Epic v. Apple trial last year. HSBC Bank Company Limited executed a financing transaction to provide a RMB M&A loan facility...

Sanlam and Absa officially combined their investment businesses to create the second largest asset manager in South Africa. Xbox Game Pass is also at the heart of the ongoing battles between Microsoft and Sony over Call of Duty. Sony is arguing that Microsoft could take Call of Duty away from PlayStation entirely, while Microsoft says that wouldn’t make business sense.