The European Union could greenlight Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. as early as next week, according to a new report. 

Reuters today cited sources as saying that the EU will likely approve the $68.7 billion deal on Monday. The deadline for the decision is May 22.

Activision Blizzard is one of the world’s largest video game developers. Last quarter, the company generated $2.38 billion in revenue from 368 million monthly active users. Microsoft first announced its plans to buy it last January.

In November of the same year, the EU launched an antitrust probe into the deal. Regulators sought to determine whether Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard may harm competitors in the video game market. Theoretically, such a probe can lead to the cancellation of the acquisition under investigation. 

The EU’s reported plan to approve the deal could bring Microsoft one step closer toward closing it.

Activision Blizzard makes its games available on Microsoft’s Xbox consoles, Xbox Cloud Streaming cloud gaming service and Windows. The company also supports a number of competing platforms. EU regulators opened the antitrust probe over concerns that Microsoft may limit the availability of Activision Blizzard’s games on competing platforms.

According to Reuters, officials are moving to approve the deal because of a series of recent licensing deals that Microsoft has inked with several rivals. The deals are meant to ensure that Activision Blizzard games will continue to be available on those rivals’ platforms.

Although the agreements are expected to win over EU officials, they failed to convince the U.K.’s antitrust regulator. The Competition and Markets Authority, or CMA, last month blocked the transaction over concerns it may negatively impact competition. CMA officials believe Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard could harm rivals in the nascent cloud gaming market.

The regulator brought the decision as part of an antitrust probe that was opened last year. Originally, the CMA was concerned the deal could hurt both the video game console and the cloud gaming segments. A few weeks before it decided to block the transaction, CMA narrowed the probe to focus only on the latter market. 

The deal is also facing scrutiny in the U.S. Last December, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed suit to block the transaction on antitrust grounds. The FTC is concerned the deal would reduce competition in the cloud gaming and video game console markets.

If approved, the $68.7 billion transaction would mark the largest-ever acquisition in the history of the tech industry. It would also establish Microsoft as the world’s third largest video game company by revenue. 

Photo: Microsoft