The court order will prevent both parties from reaching a final agreement before Friday, which is the expected deadline for the deal to close. The buyout would have been the biggest in video game history, as Activision Blizzard is the developer behind massively successful games like Call of Duty and the recently released Diablo IV.

In its filing, the FTC claimed that if completed, the agreement would provide Microsoft with the “ability and increased incentive to withhold or degrade Activision’s content in ways that substantially lessen competition”.

The commission stated that Microsoft would gain the ability to reduce the player experience of game quality on other consoles. This includes products like the PlayStation 5 from Sony, which has expressed its opposition to the deal, and Nintendo’s Switch.

The FTC also argued that Microsoft would be able to alter and manipulate the pricing and access to Activision Blizzard’s content.

The FTC made a previous attempt to stop the deal in December, citing antitrust reasons. Despite this, the European Commission approved the deal.

Brad Smith, Microsoft President, promised to take on the FTC in court.

In a bid to ease the concerns of its competitors and the rest of the industry, the company previously offered to sign a decree with the FTC. The deal provides Call of Duty to rival brands like Sony for 10 years.

Nintendo and technology firm Nvidia signed the 10-year agreements with Microsoft, which will go into effect after the Activision acquisition. On the other hand, Sony is still lobbying against the merger and is reportedly set on blocking it regardless of Microsoft’s concessions.

The recent move by the FTC is just the latest in the series of delays that have stopped the deal from progressing smoothly. Sony pushed back against the deal in September 2022, claiming it would limit competition.

The deal was also blocked by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority on April 26, which stated that it could “damage competition in the cloud gaming market”. Nevertheless, the European Union ultimately approved the merger on May 15.

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?The Activision business division saw the biggest loss, with revenues falling by 49 percent to $453 million from $891 million in the same period last year. Meanwhile, Blizzard’s sales fell by 43% to $274 million from $483 million.

?In terms of player numbers, overall monthly active users fell from 435 million to 372 million compared to the same period in the previous year. MAUs for Activision were down 33% to 100 million, while MAUs for Blizzard were down nearly 19% to 22 million.

?The corporation stated that the quarterly results were lower because Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Warzone both performed below expectations. One of the reasons given is Blizzard’s release schedule, which did not contain significant games.

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Candy Crush Saga stands tall

?However, not all of the company’s decisions resulted in significant losses. The King division, which is responsible for mobile casual games, limited the damage somewhat with another strong sector.

The company’s quarterly revenues increased by 12% year-on-year to $682 million, and net bookings increased by 8%. Candy Crush Saga, King’s largest franchise, was the top-grossing gaming franchise on US app stores for the 19th quarter in a row.

?What’s next for Activision Blizzard?

?Blizzard’s 43% revenue decline in the first quarter hinged heavily on “product cycle timing for the Warcraft franchise”. Speaking on what could possibly play a huge role in seeing its revenue rise, the brand discussed the release of Warcraft’s first mobile product.

?While Diablo Immortal is pegged for a June 2 release internationally, Warcraft’s first mobile product is scheduled to be released in a few weeks. The company also highlighted that there will be a PC version for Diablo Immortals with cross-play to be launched on the same day in beta.

?In the future, Activision Blizzard plans to produce a sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which is described as the “most successful” edition in the franchise to date, as well as a “new free-to-play Warzone experience” that will be released alongside the premium Modern Warfare title.

?In a statement, the company has promised to deliver more compelling content as it expands its Call of Duty resources.

?”Activision continued to rapidly expand its Call of Duty development resources in the first quarter. Its expanding staff are focused on providing the community with ever more appealing content on PC and console, as well as expanding Warzone to the mobile platform,” the company added.

?In regards to the partnership between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft, the corporation affirmed that everything is going according to plan. The transaction has been approved by both boards of directors and is expected to be finalized by June 30, 2023.

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What started as a small project soon became a global giant with more than 500,000 viewers every day. Careers have started and ended on the Twitch servers, which host video game streams, live esports and unique user content from all over the world.

Other services have tried to compete with Twitch, but all have failed – that is, until Microsoft decided to put its resources to good use.

Mixer has developed a cult following since its 2016 launch. To survive, it has had to succeed where Twitch was failing. There are three strong points that make Mixer stand out: the community, the terms and conditions, and the opportunities for new streamers.

No toxic teens

It is a known fact that the Twitch community is toxic. While streamers often establish rules about the words that can and cannot be used, such measures are almost impossible to enforce when over 50,000 people are typing at once.

Twitch’s viewers can be divided into two distinct categories: audience under 16 and audience over 17. The younger sort tend to be more toxic and use their parent’s money to make donations, while older viewers are far better behaved on the whole.

Mixer doesn’t have this issue. The average viewer is on the platform to enjoy the gameplay and support the talent. As a result, the Mixer community is more mature and responsible with the feedback they give to the streamers.

Better terms and conditions

Twitch had issues regarding the behavior of streamers in the past. The platform was once littered with offensive and overtly sexual content, while the toxic social environment has spawned many turns of phrase that hold sexist, misogynistic, or otherwise negative connotations (such as ‘eGirl’).

To combat this, Twitch changed the rules of conduct for streamers. The result was a vaguely worded document that neither fans nor streamers understood. Twitch staff proceeded to hand out bans almost at random, meaning users would lose their channels for months without any clear explanation as to why.

Mixer users will not experience the same situation. The rules of conduct are clear and cover all the basics. Users are encouraged to point out anything missing from the rules, while bans and other punishments will happen only if the streamer is found to be at fault.

A fair go for new streamers

Whenever you enter a section on Twitch, you see the streamers with the most users. Those without a large audience are at the bottom, so no one can find them.

Mixer has introduced the HypeZone – a new system that rewards consistent streamers. For example, any Fortnite: Battle Royale streamer can be featured on the Fortnite HypeZone channel if they produce good content on a regular basis.

HypeZone channels run 24/7 and switch from one streamer to another so everyone gets the same opportunities. It is a great way to be discovered by the 500+ viewers that tune in.