The purchase of ActivisionBlizzard by microsoftvalued at $68.7 billion, will be investigated in depth by the European Commission. This was confirmed by the body, which had until today to make official something that was already taken for granted. Especially since Microsoft chose not to present commitments that would appease the doubts of the regulators.
Phase two will last 90 business days, and as soon as it ends, it will be decided whether or not to approve the acquisition. The deadline to define the future of the agreement will be on March 23, 2023. If the determination is positive, those in Redmond will be able to move forward with their idea of finalizing the process before the end of fiscal year 2023.
Europe will undoubtedly be one of the toughest regulatory hurdles that Microsoft will have to overcome. Beyond what happens in the EU, the UK will also thoroughly review the purchase of Activision Blizzard and its implications. And to this must be added what happens in the United States with the Federal Trade Commission.
Europe will define in March 2023 if it approves the purchase of Activision Blizzard
As for the EC investigation, the authorities They presented the three points that cause them the greatest concern:
- That Microsoft restricts the reach of Activision Blizzard games on platforms other than Xbox and Windows. This is especially focused in the case of AAA titles. Let’s not forget that Sony has been the one that has most openly criticized the purchase, arguing that it jeopardizes the continuity of popular franchises such as Call of Duty on PlayStation.
- That Microsoft uses the acquisition to benefit Xbox Game Pass by preventing other subscription or cloud gaming services from accessing Activision Blizzard titles.
- That combining Activision Blizzard’s intellectual property with Xbox Game Pass on Windows hurts developers of other operating systems. “This would discourage users from buying computers that do not use Windows,” says the European Commission.
From the beginning, Microsoft denied that it intends to withdraw Call of Duty from PlayStation; although he did acknowledge his idea of bringing the franchise to Game Pass. But it has also been revealed that his big goal is hit the mobile gaming market hard.
We will have to see how this story continues. The European Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, referred to the need to investigate the purchase of Activision Blizzard. “We must ensure that opportunities continue to exist for current and future PC and console video game distributors, as well as rival PC operating system vendors. The goal is to ensure that the gaming ecosystem remains vibrant for the benefit of gamers.” users in a sector that is evolving at a fast pace,” he said.
Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, also gave his opinion on the matter, and assured that his company will collaborate with the European Commission. “With so many large global companies now competing in a nearly $200 billion video game industry, it’s understandable that regulators are trying to better understand the gaming business,” he said.