By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Microsoft may have to offer concessions to address EU antitrust concerns over its $ 69 billion bid for Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard after regulators opened a deal. survey on Tuesday and warned of the impact on the business.
The US software company, which announced the deal in January, is betting that Activision’s game stability will help it compete better with leaders Tencent and Sony, with the latest critic of the deal.
“The commission’s preliminary investigation shows that the transaction could significantly reduce competition in the console and PC game distribution markets, including multi-game subscription services and / or cloud game streaming services, and for systems operating for PC. “, the European Commission said in a statement.
“The investigation suggests that Microsoft may have the ability, in addition to the potential economic incentive, to engage in foreclosure strategies against Microsoft’s rival console game distributors,” he added.
The company said it will work with the antitrust agency to address valid concerns.
“Sony, as the industry leader, says we are concerned about Call of Duty, but we are committed to making the same game available on Xbox and PlayStation on the same day. We want people to have more access to games, not less.” , a Microsoft spokesperson said.
The European competition body has stated that it will decide by 23 March 2023 whether to authorize the agreement. The UK is also investigating the takeover, with concerns similar to those of the European Union.
(For Foo Yun Chee and Marine Strauss)
