There are three deals that stand out in 2023, each with its own set of challenges and complications, and, at the time of writing, only one of them has officially closed.

The first is the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, which was finalised in October. With a value of $69 billion, this is the largest gaming acquisition to date. However, it's been a long slog to get here, as it's taken nearly two years to come to fruition. The biggest stumbling block was obtaining regulatory approval from the US, but more specifically the UK, which, some say, post-Brexit, was trying to find relevance on the world stage and differentiate itself from what the EU is doing.