After an “in-depth” investigation, the European Commission approved Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Investigation began last November, with the committee citing Microsoft’s potential expansion into the cloud gaming market as a primary concern. This is just one of many hurdles the company faces, including ongoing battles with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Preliminary summary, here it is Conclusion of the European Commission came as a result of their investigation:
- Microsoft’s merger will not give them any incentive to refuse to distribute the Activision-Blizzard game to the Sony console.
- Even if Microsoft withheld those games from Sony, it wouldn’t do any significant harm to the console market.
- Even before the merger, Activision would not offer its games on multi-game subscription services (e.g. Xbox Game Pass)
- If Microsoft makes Activision games exclusively for their cloud service, it will harm the growth of the market by reducing competition and also improving Microsoft’s position as a system developer. PC operating.
In response, Microsoft has agreed to issue a free license that allows residents in the European Economic Area to use any cloud platform they wish to stream all current and future Activision-Blizzard games. , as well as a license that allows cloud service providers to offer those games. service. The European Commission is quite pleased with the results, stating: “These commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement in cloud game streaming compared to the current situation.”
Additionally, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick released this statement regarding the decision.
EC conducted an extremely thorough, deliberate process to gain a complete understanding of the game. As a result, they approved our merger with Microsoft, even though they required strict remedies to ensure strong competition in our rapidly growing industry. We have deep roots in Europe. Our company was established in France. Candy Crush—one of our most successful franchises—was created in Sweden. And our company’s senior leadership comes from all over the EU, including Austria, Germany and Sweden. We intend to meaningfully expand our investment and workforce across the EU and we are delighted by the benefits our trading brings to players in Europe and around the world. world. The majority of gamers in the world play on mobile phones. Europe has played an important role in the development of games, especially mobile games, and we hope game developers in Europe will continue to drive the development and renew. Our talented teams in Sweden, Spain, Germany, Romania, Poland and many other European countries have the skills, ambition and government support needed to compete effectively on the scale. global scale. We expect these teams to grow and prosper thanks to the government’s solid yet realistic approach to the game.
While this is certainly a significant win for the merger, it still has a long way to go before approval. Beyond it block in the United Kingdomthe company will have to negotiate with FTC at a hearing in August.
Do you think this merger will come through? Let us know in the comments section!
