As the past 18 months have shown, CoD was big enough as an annual IP to warp perception of how regulators analyzed the deal. ABK in 2022 was 7 billion dollars, or barely 3%, and they're in the top 5 biggest companies revenue wise for gaming. In 2022 gaming as whole generated 211 billion dollars in revenue. Almost no other company has an annual series like CoD, and the few that do are almost all sports based and the sports leagues themselves likely won't let these games go exclusive again (see mlb the show).įor a gaming deal to get serious consideration to be blocked by a regulator, you'd either have to be even bigger revenue wise (MS ain't buying Nintendo, Tencent, or Sony, and that's it), have an IP even bigger on an annual basis then CoD that can actually go exclusive (maybe GTA due to GTAO?, but that's it), or have some other major input that would could cause foreclosure on rivals (buying epic to make UE exclusive, buying a chip manufacturer that provides parts needed for all gaming types, etc).īecause those companies are truly a drop in the bucket for gaming as a whole. Thus far only two found any qualms to try and block, the FTC got laughed out of court, and the CMA has already come back to the table instead of having to argue it's case to a tribunal.Ĭompanies smaller then that which barely make up 1% of all revenue in a year truly aren't going to get even a cursory glance.

Click to expand.Because those companies are truly a drop in the bucket for gaming as a whole.

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