Despite 3-month delay, the Xbox Activision merger now looks more likely than ever

The deadline to complete the Xbox Activision deal has been extended by three months.

In a tweet, Xbox chief Phil Spencer confirmed that "Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have extended the merger agreement deadline" to October 18. That follows the deal's failure to meet the original deadline, which was set for July 18, but was hindered by legal processes. Should the deal fall through, Microsoft will now have to pay up to a maximum of $4.5 billion rather than the original $3 billion as a termination fee. 

One of the biggest milestones was the recent FTC trial, which was intended to prevent the deal from passing before that initial deadline. Microsoft won the right to continue, but the process still held up the deal by several weeks. The merger has also been hindered by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, which blocked the deal earlier this year. Both Activision Blizzard and Microsoft appealed the CMA's decision, but it's understood that the appeals process has been put on hold while all parties attempt to come to an agreement.

Microsoft had suggested that if the FTC was successful in its case against the merger, the deal might never go through due to the legal quagmire involved. Although the original deadline has now passed, it was widely expected that Xbox and Activision would come to an agreement to allow the merger to complete, either by an extension like this, or by a mutual understanding not to walk away from the deal.

In his tweet, Spencer said that Microsoft remains "optimistic about getting this done, and excited about bringing more games to more players everywhere." Last week, Xbox made an agreement with Sony to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for an initial period of ten years after the merger, resolving a major point of contention against the deal after several failed proposals. 

In the past several months, the company has made strides to increase the distribution of its games, making deals with several cloud gaming services, as well as with Nintendo. The court which ruled against the FTC found these deals to be an important factor, though the FTC maintains they don't address its anticompetitive concerns.  

We're still waiting on the Call of Duty 2023 release date.