WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. competition watchdog, said Thursday it had opened proceedings to block Microsoft’s acquisition of video game publisher Activision, saying it fears serious damage to competition. .
Microsoft announced in January it would buy Activision for about $69 billion (€65.42 billion at today’s rates), the most expensive deal ever in the industry.
The American computer giant, owner of the Xbox, expected to become, once the operation closes, the third largest games company in the world by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.
The proposed takeover of the publisher of “Call of Duty”, “Overwatch” and “Candy Crush” has triggered extensive investigations in the United States, Great Britain and the European Union, regulators who fear an abuse of dominant position.
At the end of this investigation, the FTC has decided to initiate proceedings to block this operation, as first reported by the Washington Post, underlining that Microsoft had shown in the past that it does not hesitate to block the operation of accessing content on competing consoles.
“Microsoft has already proven that it can and will block content for its rivals,” said Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Competition Bureau. “Today we seek to prevent Microsoft from taking control of a major independent game studio and using it to harm competition in several fast-growing and dynamic game markets.”
Microsoft chairman Brad Smith has vowed to challenge the decision in court. “We have full confidence in our good rights and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court,” he said.
(Report by Diane Bartz, French version Nicolas Delame and Tangi Salaün)
Copyright © 2022 Thomson Reuters
