Microsoft president Brad Smith also commented, saying, “From Day One of this acquisition, we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns 🏵 of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers. Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we 🏵 will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever 🏵 before.”

The signing of the deal marks the end of a long stalemate, during which Microsoft made repeated public offers to 🏵 keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, while Sony dismissed these and instead attempted to use its leverage with regulators to 🏵 sink Microsoft’sR$68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard completely. “I don’t want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want 🏵 to block your merger,” PlayStation boss Jim Ryan reportedly told Activision executives on the day of a meeting with European 🏵 Union regulators in February.

PlayStation’s strategy was to use Call of Duty to convince regulators the merger would kill competition in 🏵 the console market, because Microsoft would withhold the games from PlayStation or release inferior versions there. But this strategy was 🏵 none too successful. EU regulators were satisfied with the assurances offered by Microsoft, while the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority 🏵 eventually conceded it was in Microsoft’s interest to keep Call of Duty available to PlayStation’s huge audience, and switched tack 🏵 in its opposition of the deal to concerns around cloud gaming.

Only the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ultimately ran with Sony’s 🏵 argument, but when its case was tested in court, it lost. Evidence presented in the case included an emailed admission 🏵 from Ryan that he had no concerns about PlayStation losing access to Call of Duty “for many years to come.”

The 🏵 signing of the agreement with Microsoft means Sony has effectively ended its opposition to the acquisition, and now expects it 🏵 to be completed — perhaps as soon as Tuesday, July 18, the deadline by which the deal is supposed to 🏵 be closed. In theory, two regulators remain opposed to the acquisition. But the FTC has failed to persuade an appeals 🏵 court to extend an emergency block on the deal, while the CMA has entered into negotiations with Microsoft to find 🏵 a path forward in the U.K., with an extended deadline of Aug. 29. It’s possible Microsoft and Activision will now 🏵 extend their own deal deadline to give this process time to complete.