Microsoft closes $69 billion Activision deal after Britain's nod

Xbox maker Microsoft closed its $69 billion deal for Activision Blizzard on Friday, swelling its heft in the video-gaming market with best-selling titles including "Call of Duty" to better compete with industry leader Sony. "Today is a good day to play," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a post on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. https://t.co/KBCESknYYh https://t.co/jTHOeH48Wx — Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) October 13, 2023Spencer has touted the purchase as a way for Microsoft to break into the more than $90-billion market for mobile games. Activision makes popular mobile titles including "Candy Crush Saga" and "Call of Duty Mobile" - games that were excluded from the cloud streaming deal Microsoft signed with France's Ubisoft Entertainment to secure approval from Britain. "The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers," it said in a statement.