What You Missed This Week in Video Games

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: This week’s most notable release is Capcom’s (CCOEY) multiplayer dinosaur shooter “Exoprimal,” which launches July 14 for PC, Xbox One (MSFT), Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 (SONY), and PS5.

MICROSOFT/ACTIVISION: Following a long legal dispute, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco granted Microsoft approval to move forward with its deal to acquire Activision Blizzard (ATVI), denying an FTC effort to block the deal, according to media reports. The ruling means the Xbox maker can seek to close its merger ahead of a July 18 deadline everywhere except for in the U.K., which previously vetoed the deal in May.

“Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history,” Judge Corley said in the ruling. “It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox. It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision’s content to several cloud gaming services. This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore DENIED.”

Following the news, Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith released a statement, saying, “We’re grateful to the Court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision and hope other jurisdictions will continue working towards a timely resolution. As we’ve demonstrated consistently throughout this process, we are committed to working creatively and collaboratively to address regulatory concerns.”

EA/BLACK PANTHER: Electronic Arts (EA) announced it is publishing an original, third-person, single-player “Black Panther” game in collaboration with Marvel Games (DIS). The title is being developed by new AAA development studio Cliffhanger Games, which is being led by former Monolith Productions leader Kevin Stephens. “We’re dedicated to delivering fans a definitive and authentic Black Panther experience, giving them more agency and control over their narrative than they have ever experienced in a story-driven video game,” Stephens said. “Wakanda is a rich Super Hero sandbox, and our mission is to develop an epic world for players who love Black Panther and want to explore the world of Wakanda as much as we do.”

OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:

• Citi upgraded Nintendo (NTDOY) to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target on the shares to 8,100 yen from 6,200 yen (read more)
• BTIG said Roblox (RBLX) should see more bookings growth and ad adoption from GenAI (read more)
• Sega of America (SGAMY) workers voted to form a union, Vice reports (read more)