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: Among this week’s major releases is Sony‘s (SONY) “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,” which launches exclusively for PlayStation 5 consoles on October 20. Also out that same day is Nintendo’s (NTDOY) “Super Mario Bros. Wonder,” which is a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Additionally, Sega’s (SGAMY) “Sonic Superstars,” the latest in the “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise, releases October 17 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One (MSFT), Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Switch.

MICROSOFT-ACTIVISION DEAL FINALLY CLOSES: On October 13, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) completed its takeover by Microsoft after the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority concluded that the updated deal, which includes Ubisoft (UBSFY) buying Activision’s cloud gaming rights, would preserve competitive prices and better services. “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,” the CMA said. “It will allow Ubisoft to offer Activision’s content under any business model, including through multigame subscription services. It will also help to ensure that cloud gaming providers will be able to use non-Windows operating systems for Activision content, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.”

Following the official closing announcement, Kotaku’s Ethan Gach reported that Microsoft confirmed that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick would remain in his position until the end of 2023 to help with the transition. “Bobby Kotick has agreed to remain in his role through the end of 2023, reporting directly to me, to ensure a smooth and seamless integration,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told staff in an October 13 email. “We look forward to working together as a unified team and we will share more updates on our new organizational structure in the coming months.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission remains focused on its appeal opposing Microsoft’s (MSFT) $68.7B Activision (ATVI) acquisition and will “assess” the cloud gaming deal with Ubisoft (UBSFY), Reuters’ Diane Bartz reported. “Microsoft and Activision’s new agreement with Ubisoft presents a whole new facet to the merger that will affect American consumers, which the FTC will assess as part of its ongoing administrative proceeding,” said FTC spokeswoman Victoria Graham. “The FTC continues to believe this deal is a threat to competition.”

NETFLIX GAMING ASPIRATIONS: Netflix (NFLX) is working hard on deepening its push into the videogame industry and creating games based on popular Netflix content, Jessica Toonkel, Sarah Needleman, and Sarah Krouse of the Wall Street Journal reported. Up until now, the company has largely focused on mobile games, but is now working to expand into higher-end games that could be streamed from TVs or PCs, the authors noted. Over the next few months, Netflix subscribers will be able to play on their mobile devices games based on “Squid Game” and “Wednesday,” people familiar with the situation told the Journal.

Meanwhile, The Verge’s Jay Peters reported yesterday that Netflix is broadening its game streaming beta to the U.S. according to an update to its original blog post, explaining the test is limited. “The feature, which lets you play games streamed from the cloud on devices like your TV or a computer, launched first in August in Canada and the UK,” noted the Verge story.

Click here to check out recent Media Buzz Sentiment on Netflix as measured by TipRanks.

OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:

• Ubisoft said “Assassin’s Creed Mirage” is its biggest new generation launch in terms of unit sales (read more)
• Sony unveiled a smaller PlayStation 5 design (read more)
• Sony also announced that PS5 cloud streaming launches this month for PS Plus Premium subscribers (read more)
• Raymond James upgraded Take-Two (TTWO) to Outperform from Market Perform (read more)
• Roblox (RBLX) catalysts are lining up well, says Roth MKM (read more)