Regulators from the U.K., EU, and U.S. have all shared concerns regarding Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal. As part of their further investigation into the potential violation of anti-competition laws, they’ve taken input from six of Microsoft’s rivals.
Surprise, surprise, half of the six rivals questioned weren’t too hot on the idea. Two of the six, however, didn’t believe the acquisition would be an issue, with another claiming it’s “too early” to tell, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Concerns grew regarding “multi-game subscription services,” and their increase in popularity. As Microsoft is one of the key players in that particular field, the idea of a merger doesn’t sit well with other companies that provide “console gaming services or cloud gaming services.”
Competitors brought forth issues regarding the potential lack of Activision titles in their repertoire. Activision has a massive catalog of beloved titles like Overwatch 2, Call of Duty, StarCraft, and Diablo.
Microsoft now has the chance to voice its perspective in front of EU anti-trust regulators in the next few days. Their arguments, if successful, will explain the reasoning as to why the merger won’t greatly impact competitive standards in the industry.
This whole endeavor has been a tennis match between the two technological giants, Sony and Microsoft, with regulators mediating the issue since it was presented in January 2022. The initial months were spent deciding which titan was superior. The battle eventually led to the custody battle of the Call of Duty franchise which has dominated the debate.
The CoD franchise has been a monumental series for all platforms and became the focus of the Activision Blizzard acquisition. To counteract the issue, Microsoft offered a 10-year deal with Sony, allowing them same-day permissions alongside the Xbox creators. Once the deal had reached its end, Sony would be left without the franchise in its catalog.
After Microsoft’s Feb. 21 court date, more will be revealed regarding the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
