EU delays decision on approving Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard until May 22

This is a screenshot from Call of Duty Microsoft is all set to acquire game publisher Activision Blizzard for around $69 billion. However, one of the regulators that is supposed to approve the deal has pushed back its deadline for its thumbs up.

Eurogamer reports that the European Union and its executive arm, the European Commission, will push back the decision to approve or deny the merger from the original date of April 25 to May 22.

The extra time will give Microsoft more opportunities to give some concessions and remedies to the EU and EC so they will feel comfortable approving the acquisition. Previous reports indicated the EC will let the deal go forward without the need for Microsoft to sell off the huge Call of Duty gameplay franchise.

This week, Microsoft has been pledging to offer its Xbox and Activision Blizzard games to two streaming companies: Boosteroid and Ubitus. Microsoft says it has offered a similar 10-year deal to keep Call of Duty games on Sony's PlayStation consoles. However, Sony not only doesn't want to agree to such a deal, it believes Microsoft might even cripple future Call of Duty games on PlayStation to give Microsoft an advantage.

Even if the EU approves the acquisition, Microsoft is also trying to convince both the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to sign off on the deal. This week, the FTC accused Microsoft of not giving them all of the documents the agency asked for to examine the company's arguments for the deal to commence.

Source: Eurogamer