While Activision CEO Bobby Kotick just mentioned yesterday that they expect the huge $69B acquisition deal with Microsoft to complete by June 2023, the video game exec just penned a letter where he mentions that the European Commission is now entering its second phase for review this week, as well as stating how this acquisition will not harm competition in any way.

Read on for the full letter by Bobby Kotick:

Team,

I wanted to take a moment out of our successful, busy launch season to provide an update on our progress towards the completion of our merger with Microsoft. With increased competition globally from companies with huge talent pools and resources, becoming part of a company with access to talent around the world will help us fill the thousands of open positions we will have over the next few years.

We have been, and will be, in fierce competition to attract and retain the talent we need to create content that will meet the demands of our growing audiences. Being a part of Microsoft will help us better realize our ambitions and satisfy the high standards of our audiences.

As we said when we announced our merger, this is a long process. We have already received approvals from countries including Brazil. After a close review of the transaction, the Brazilian authority arrived at the understanding that we operate in a highly dynamic and competitive industry, and that the merger will not harm competition in any way.

We continue to work cooperatively with regulators in other jurisdictions, and the process is moving along as we expected. Because so many large global companies across the world are now competing in the nearly $200 billion dollar games industry, it’s understandable that regulators are trying to better understand the games business. This week the European Commission announced that we have entered the second phase of our review in the region. We will continue to cooperate with the European Commission where, in the countries they represent, we have many employees. We have been working closely with Microsoft to actively engage regulators in other key countries to answer their questions and provide them with information to assist with their review. People from across our business units and functions have been involved in this regulatory work, and I want to thank each of you for your tireless work and commitment to completing this merger, which we continue to expect to close in Microsoft’s current fiscal year ending June 2023.

We remain excited about the great games we continue to release, the growth we expect greater industry investment from so many companies will generate, and completing the merger with Microsoft so we can better compete.

Thank you, for your passion, enthusiasm, and commitment to excellence.

With appreciation,

Bobby

What findings will the European Commission report on in this second week? Your guess is as good as mine, but we’ll definitely keep our eyes peeled at future developments, as this is one acquisition that can change the gaming landscape for good.

Source: Activision Investor Site