The US Trade Commission warns that Microsoft may have control over major video game franchises.
United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) disapprove of the acquisition agreement Microsoft.
To buy the video game maker Activision Blizzardwhich he accepted in January of this year for 69 billion dollars.
Acquisition also questioned by UK Markets and Competition Authoritysince last October.
Microsoft has a history of suppressing competition
The Commission wants to prevent Microsoft Corp. from acquiring major video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its hugely successful franchises such as Call of Duty.
To the it considers that it could push game console competitors like PlayStation and Nintendo out of the cloud and subscription content business.
The Commission noted that Microsoft has a history of acquiring and using valuable titles to suppress competition from rival consoles.
As the case of ZeniMaxfrom Bethesda Software, where the tech giant has decided to make several titles, such as Starfield and Redfall, exclusive to Xbox.
Despite assurances given to European antitrust authorities, it had no incentive to refuse games to competitors.
Will try to go to court
In response Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, posted on his Twitter account that they are committed to addressing competition issues.
But that they could present their position in court.
“We have full confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to take it to court.”.
Posted by Brad Smith.
FTC we try to prevent it from hurting more markets
“Microsoft has already proven that it can hold back content from its gaming rivals and it will”.
“Today we try to prevent the company from gaining control of a major independent game studio and using it to hurt competition in multiple markets.”.
said Holly Widow, director of the FTC’s Office of Competition.
Activision is one of the few developers that creates and publishes high quality video games for multiple devices.including game consoles, PCs and mobile devices.
It produces some of the most iconic and popular video games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch.
In addition to having millions of monthly active users worldwide, the regulatory body details.
Currently, Activision Blizzard offers its games on many devices regardless of manufacturer; But that could change if the deal can continue.
Possible actions vs competition
With control of Activision’s franchises, Microsoft would have both the means and the motive to hurt the competitionargued the FTC.
By manipulating prices, degrading game quality or player experience on rival gaming consoles and services.
Also, by changing the terms and hours of access to Activision content.
Even denying content to competitors in its entirety, which results in harm to consumers, the body specified.
