The deal between Microsoft and Activision has been reviewed by 16 regulators around the world, but the FTC is the first of three major regulators, including in the UK and the European Union, to make a decision on the acquisition.
Microsoft has argued that the deal benefits consumers because Microsoft could make Activision’s wide library of games available to more people across platforms and as part of a bundled subscription to Xbox Game Pass, the Netflix-esque streaming offering, rather than of each game to download and purchase. individually.
But the FTC said customers would be harmed because Microsoft could exploit Activision’s hugely popular games to its advantage, withholding them from competitors like Sony or using them to gain an upper hand as more gaming streams online. by leveraging the power of Microsoft’s data centers.
Legal experts said the case could be challenging for the FTC to win because Microsoft and Activision don’t really play in the same industry, mitigating potential monopoly problems. But the FTC may be trying to pressure European regulators to act while making it harder for the companies to close their deal.
The lawsuit follows a last-ditch effort by Microsoft to address regulators’ concerns.
In mid-November, Microsoft offered Call of Duty to Sony for 10 years, significantly longer than any previous offer. On Monday, Mr. Smith, Microsoft’s president who leads lobbying activities, said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the company is “open to making the same commitment to other platforms and making it legally enforceable by regulators in the US, UK and European Union.”
Late Tuesday night, in an announcement meant to appease regulators, Microsoft said it had reached a deal to bring the Call of Duty franchise to Nintendo’s Switch devices for 10 years — where the games aren’t currently available — if the Activision deal closes.
Microsoft has also gone on the offensive against Sony, which has emerged as the main opponent of the Activision deal in recent months. Sony, which makes the popular video game console PlayStation, told UK regulators the acquisition would bring critical games “under Microsoft’s exclusive control, giving it an unprecedented content advantage,” and that Microsoft had not offered to make Call of Duty available. make on Sony’s game streaming service.
