Microsoft plans to finally buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7bn next Friday, 13th October, according to a fresh report from The Verge.

That date is still contingent on the UK's Competition and Markets Authority giving the deal an official green light - though the regulator has already signalled it is likely to do so.

The CMA has until 18th October to weigh in with its final decision, following a deadline today for feedback on the deal's revised form - now Microsoft has agreed to sell off streaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft.

Word that Microsoft is expected to make a move at the end of next week suggests it expects the CMA to have given its final verdict by then, too.

It has been a long 20 months since Microsoft first announced its intent to buy the maker of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush - and it's been a bumpy road full of legal drama, leaks and tweaks to the deal.

Even with the deal done, the US Federal Trade Commission will continue its legal efforts to counter the acquisition - though it now looks set to do so after Microsoft has already signed on the dotted line.