After Microsoft buy video game company Activision Blizzardworth nearly 70 billion US dollars (R$365 billion), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC, in English), the body responsible for protecting consumers and competition in the USA, on Wednesday 8th presented an appeal to the Justice for the suspension of the acquisition.
The agency argued that the purchase of the Software “it would allow it to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its growing subscription content and cloud gaming business.”
#BREAK: FTC Seeks to Block Microsoft Corp. Acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc.: https://t.co/ukewjn6MUX /1
—FTC (@FTC) December 8, 2022
Agency Arguments Against Microsoft
The FTC said Microsoft made games like Starfield And Redfall exclusive to the platform after acquiring a smaller game developer, ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, when it “promised” it wasn’t interested in stopping releasing them on competing consoles.
“Microsoft has already proven that it can and will hide content from its gaming rivals,” Holly Widow, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “Today, we seek to prevent him from gaining control of a major independent game studio and using it to undermine competition in multiple game markets.”
In November, the European Commission announced the opening of an “in-depth” investigation into the proposed acquisition by Microsoft and the possible effects of this acquisition on competition in the electronic games segment.
