Analyst Predicts Activision Blizzard Deal Could Be Finalised This Year

Earlier today, we highlighted Michael Pachter's recent appearance on Yahoo Finance Live and his suggestion that Xbox Game Pass will reach 100 million subscribers, and the Wedbush Securities analyst also mentioned during the discussion that he believed the Activision Blizzard acquisition could conclude by the end of this year.

The main potential roadblock (in his opinion) lies with the FTC, and whether they might try and challenge the deal by October. However, he believes there's no legal basis to do so, and therefore an agreement will be reached instead.

"What the FTC will likely do and should do is seek an agreement with Microsoft and enter into a consent decree, not block the merger, not sue to block the merger.

And the consent decree will say, we're not going to raise game prices or the cost of the console. And we're absolutely going to continue to support Playstation with Activision games. If they get that, this deal sails through."

Pachter says that October is "kind of when the FTC has to fish or cut bait", so if they don't take any action by the end of that month, he believes Microsoft will announce that the deal is done by the end of 2022, or January 15th at the latest.

Whenever the deal does close, it's already been confirmed that Microsoft wants to bring as many Activision Blizzard games to Xbox Game Pass as posible, so that should include the likes of Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo and much more.

Do you think the deal will close this year? Give us your prediction in the comments.

[source uk.finance.yahoo.com]