Phil Spencer is "pretty confident" Xbox's Activision Blizzard purchase will close

Xbox boss Phil Spencer is optimistic that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard will ultimately close.

In an interview with Same Brain, Spencer reaffirmed that Microsoft expects the deal to close by the end of its fiscal year concluding June 30, 2023, which was the original closing target at the time the buyout was announced.

"I'm pretty confident in the deal closing," Spencer said. "I think [regulators] are asking good, honest questions about a big deal ... it's definitely the biggest deal I've ever done." He later added that he's "confident and excited" in spite of the fact that the transaction "keeps [him] up at night sometimes."

Back in August, Saudi Arabia became the first governmental body to approve Microsoft's Activision Blizzard buyout and Brazil followed suit in early October with a pointed rejection of Sony's anti-competition argument. The deal still faces scrutiny from governmental regulators around the world, including in the US and the UK with the latter's Competition and Markets Authority recently expressing concern that the deal "could substantially lessen competition in gaming consoles."

For its part, Microsoft has refuted Sony's argument that Xbox buying Activision Blizzard would be harmful to competition. Microsoft also built a whole webpage arguing that the buyout is actually good for players, creators, and the gaming industry at large. The gaming giant previously brushed off concerns from the New Zealand Commerce Commission by saying Activision Blizzard doesn't make "must have" games.

In the new interview, Spencer also reaffirmed that Microsoft's intent isn't to make Call of Duty an Xbox-exclusive franchise. On the contrary, just last week he said he'd like to "treat Call of Duty like Minecraft" and bring it to as many platforms as possible.

As everyone starts deploying for Modern Warfare 2, here are the best Call of Duty games released so far.