In particular, the European Commission has expressed concern about the acquisition, as it could give Microsoft the ability to “prevent access to Activision Blizzard’s video games for consoles and PCs, especially high-profile and successful games (i so-called “AAA” games), such as Call of Duty.
On the other hand, the organization also expressed concern about the subscription service environment, noting that by acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft could “prevent access, to the detriment of its rival distributors of console and PC video games that offer such services, to its owning PC and console video games, which are critical to the provision of the nascent cloud game streaming and multi-game subscription services.
This is not an issue that will be fixed at this time. The Commission has 90 working days, until March 23, 2023, to make a decision and noted that this investigation will not affect the outcome.
It should be remembered that in mid-October also the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). has shown its disagreement with Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard because it believes it can harm the industry and other companies like Sony’s PlayStation.
After this opinion was released, the company led by Satya Nadella responded to the CMA claiming that Sony’s complaints were “exaggerated”, as it pointed out that Sony and PlayStation have everything they need to compete and adapt afterwards. ‘acquisition.
“The suggestion that the current market leader, with clear and lasting market power, could be banned from the third-party provider due to loss of access to a title, is not credible (…) PlayStation would still be significantly larger than Xbox, “Microsoft said.
If any of the regulatory bodies in the US, UK or European Union decide to cancel the deal, Microsoft will be forced to pay Activision a $ 3 trillion fee.
On several occasions, the CEO of Microsoft gaming, Phil Spencer, has reiterated his commitment to keep the next versions of the franchise on PlayStation, as happened with Minecraft, of which he also acquired the Mojang studio.
“We will not be removing Call of Duty from PlayStation even after the acquisition. As long as there is a PlayStation to ship to, we intend to continue with it, similar to what we have done with Minecraft since we own it. We have also expanded the places in that people can play Minecraft, I want to do the same thinking about where Call of Duty can go. ” said during an interview recent.
Expansión has reached out to both companies to find out what will happen, but there is still no official response.
