it would expand its footprint and open a Barcelona office, which will house what Infinity Ward’s Riccard Linde described as a dedicated team to “focus exclusively on creating industry leading, next-gen quality art for the franchise.”
The European Commission approved the Microsoft deal in May, a crucial step toward the merger, which has still not been approved in the United States or the U.K. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are expected to testify Wednesday in a San Francisco federal court and make the case that the groundbreaking deal is good for gamers and will not suppress competition.
The Federal Trade Commission has asked a judge to temporarily stop the transaction, claiming it would allow Microsoft’s Xbox consoles and cloud-gaming platform exclusive access to Activision’s long list of titles; Microsoft has offered to license theThe Competition and Markets Authority of Britain blocked the merger earlier this year, causing Activision, which has studios in Guildford and Warrington, to"reassess" its growth plans in Europe,Microsoft early last year announced its plan...