![]() ![]() The CMA and European Commission are currently in the second phase of their investigations. This is typically a far more detailed research phase designed to make sure the transaction doesn’t restrict competition in the regulators’ markets. This is where a more in-depth analysis of the merger's effects on the market will be analysed. Most M&A deals are approved during this phase.įor anything more complex where there’s a risk to competition, the regulators will request a second phase. Whenever regulators need to approve a merger or acquisition, the first phase is a relatively short period where the regulators will request information and send questionnaires to competitors. This generated plenty of headlines in August 2022 as it revealed various parties' concerns, including Sony's warning that Call of Duty becoming exclusive to Xbox could influence which consoles people buy. Interestingly, the Brazilian regulator (CADE) has a policy of publicly publishing the responses it has received from the games industry about the deal and its potential impact. Other regulators around the world are also looking into the deal, with the relevant bodies in Chile, Brazil and Saudi Arabia already giving their approval, but the three above carry the most weight. This Commission has been given a deadline of March 23, later extended to April 25, to conduct its investigation and issue a decision. Antitrust regulators first surveyed developers about their concerns over the deal, and on November 8 the Commission opened its own in-depth investigation into Microsoft's proposed acquisition. ![]() The third main regulator for Microsoft to overcome is the European Commission. Phase one of its investigation began in July, and on September 1 it recommended that it move into a second phase, with Microsoft and Activision given one week to provide evidence convincing the regulator that this deal will not cause a "substantial lessening of competition." The next regulator who is currently looking at this is the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This review went through two phases of in-depth investigation, before the FTC issued a lawsuit on Decemin an attempt to block the deal. ![]() The first is the US regulator the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). There are regulatory bodies all over the world, but there are three main ones that Microsoft will want approval from to complete the buy-out. Regulatory bodies exist to try and make sure such deals don’t result in any antitrust issues, where one company can become overly dominant, or competition is harmed in such a way that it could lead to fewer choices, higher prices and/or less innovation.Ĭonsidering the scale and size of the deal, Microsoft would have to obtain antitrust approval before taking ownership of Activision Blizzard. "This deal has the potential to impact everyone, from the smallest indie developer to the big gaming giants" It has the potential to impact everyone, from the smallest indie developer to the biggest names in the business, and, of course, consumers. It's a potentially game-changing deal that could not just transform things for Microsoft and Xbox, but the entire games industry. This deal is - to use a professional business term - massive. Why does Microsoft need approval to buy Activision Blizzard?
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To play The New York Times Crossword on a web browser, navigate to /games on your preferred web browser and log in to your New York Times account. ![]() The New York Times Crossword Puzzle can be played at /games, on the The New York Times Crossword app (iOS and Android), and on The New York Times News app ( iOS and Android ). Learn general tips for playing The New York Times Crossword Puzzle, including where to play, accessibility and web-based functionality, and how to get help with solving puzzles. ![]() During my review period, these updates came on a near-daily basis, and based on my findings, I believe Valve has more of them in store in the short term. Valve engineer Lawrence Yang said this has been done to save users from "getting your Steam Deck into a bad state or compromising your data," and he warned that any installations inside the Steam Deck's read-only image can be wiped out with any SteamOS system update. The Steam Deck's flavor of Arch Linux is covered in armor, meaning that a significant portion of the Deck's internal storage is set to read-only mode. so long as the installs in question are only done with flatpaks. If you'd rather use standard Linux command line functions to find and install software, that's also an option by default. Descriptions and public reviews appear alongside each Discover search entry. Your quickest path to customizing the Steam Deck's KDE Plasma interface is to search the online Discover database for self-contained installation packages called "flatpaks." Chances are good that if a flatpak exists for a native Linux-compatible app, it will not only appear in Discover but also be available as a one-click install on the Deck's internal storage. Still, Steam Proton as an initiative works across the Linux ecosystem, so installing a different distro won't leave you entirely in the dark. (The same goes for Windows, which I briefly mention in the full review.) But while running another OS, you'll lose all of the Steam Deck's native support for its built-in controls and hardware-specific optimizations. If you dislike Arch Linux or KDE Plasma for any reason, you can grab your preferred Linux distro and install it on another partition. It largely resembles Windows, complete with a bottom-left button that brings up a Start-like selection of shortcuts, and it comes with Plasma's crucial "Discover" app. If you're unfamiliar with Linux, consider this a baby step into the world of open source operating systems. This option, found in the Deck's "power" menu, closes the SteamOS GUI and opens KDE Plasma, a popular Linux desktop interface. You can "switch to desktop" at any time to use the Deck more like a standard computer running Linux. Many of its pages work natively with the Steam Deck's buttons and joysticks, but some run inside a web browser and can only be manipulated by swiping and tapping the Deck's screen. If you want to use the Deck primarily as a gaming machine, with access to common Steam features like friends lists, notifications, achievements, and forums, SteamOS delivers. SteamOS is basically a GUI wrapper that runs on top of Arch Linux, and visually, it splits the difference between Steam's "Big Picture Mode" and the controller-friendly menus of the Nintendo Switch. Donating some Plasma knowledgeĪs Ars Technica reported last year, the Steam Deck runs on a customized fork of Arch Linux. In this companion article, we'll explain what's going on with Valve's first dedicated Linux PC and what it currently can (and cannot) do. But that's not the same as using the Deck as a Linux machine. This is the default way to access your favorite Steam games, and as our review explores, that proposition is currently iffy. Our full review goes into greater detail about installing and playing Windows games through Valve's customized Wine compatibility layer, dubbed Steam Proton. ![]() With that in mind, I decided to write a shorter article about the Steam Deck's implementation of Linux since a lot of Ars Technica readers are interested in that use case. Our Steam Deck review is now live, and it's massive-almost as big as Valve's new portable PC. |