ATVI

SINGAPORE—Chinese videogame publisher NetEase Inc. NTES 0.31% has refused Activision ATVI -1.40% Blizzard Inc.’s offer to extend a licensing partnership, the two companies said, deepening a rift between the firms over operations in the world’s biggest mobile game market. Blizzard Entertainment Inc., an Activision subsidiary, said Tuesday that it proposed to NetEase a six-month…

SINGAPORE— Activision Blizzard Inc. ATVI -1.08% said that NetEase Inc., NTES -0.96% its longtime partner in China, has refused its offer to extend a licensing partnership and that it is in talks with several videogame companies to find a new partner in the country. Blizzard Entertainment Inc., an Activision subsidiary, said Tuesday that it proposed to NetEase a six-month extension to…

A group of Microsoft Corp. MSFT -0.10% employees has voted to form the software company’s first labor union in the U.S., marking the latest example of workers from top tech companies organizing in recent years. The group comprises about 300 quality-assurance testers in Microsoft’s ZeniMax unit, the Communications Workers of America, which is representing it, said on Tuesday. Just a handful of U.S.-based unions exist in the videogame…

The software giant said in its defense of the deal that it is not the videogame industry’s top console company or software developer and its acquisition is aimed at becoming more competitive through its Xbox videogaming unit. “Xbox wants to grow its presence in mobile gaming, and three quarters of Activision’s gamers and more than a third of its revenues come from mobile offerings,” Microsoft said in its response to the FTC lawsuit. “Xbox also believes it is good business to make Activision’s limited portfolio of popular…

Microsoft Corp. MSFT -1.73% has signaled it plans to challenge the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit to block its $75 billion deal for Activision ATVI -0.38% Blizzard Inc., and is expected to argue that it is an underdog in videogame developing.The personal-computing company has been publicizing its position for months, saying the acquisition wouldn’t threaten competition in the industry because Microsoft trails…

Cloud gaming is an emerging technology that allows people to stream videogames to nearly any internet-connected device, similar to how movies and shows are viewed on Netflix, Hulu and other streaming platforms. The business model being developed alongside cloud gaming is a subscription service, where consumers get to play a catalog of games for a flat monthly or annual fee. With cloud gaming, players can avoid downloading games to their devices, which take up memory, and they don’t need to…

Cloud gaming is an emerging technology that allows people to stream videogames to nearly any internet-connected device, similar to how movies and shows are viewed on Netflix, Hulu and other streaming platforms. The business model being developed alongside cloud gaming is a subscription service, where consumers get to play a catalog of games for a flat monthly or annual fee. With cloud gaming, players can avoid downloading games to their devices, which take up memory, and they don’t need to…

Microsoft Corp. MSFT -0.80% had been working for close to a year to calm regulators’ concerns about its acquisition of videogame developer Activision Blizzard Inc., ATVI 0.54% but the Federal Trade Commission’s suit to block the deal raised doubts about the company’s pledge not to shut out rivals. The FTC this week took one of its biggest swings ever against a big technology company and sued to stop the planned $75…

In challenging Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT -0.36% $75 billion acquisition of Activision ATVI 0.60% Blizzard Inc., the Federal Trade Commission is building its marquee antitrust case of Chair Lina Khan’s tenure on expansive legal theories that haven’t prevailed in other recent cases. The lawsuit targets a so-called vertical merger that would combine Microsoft’s software, devices and cloud-computing business with Activision’s…

Microsoft, after earlier offering concessions to regulators, is prepared to defend its purchase of the “Call of Duty” publisher in court, Microsoft vice chairman and president, Brad Smith, said Thursday. Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said the regulatory environment is focused on ideology and misconceptions. A fight with regulators could make the deal more trouble than it is worth for Microsoft, some Wall Street analysts said Friday. CFRA…