Sudden! EU approves Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but must comply with two major commitments

Tech 2023-05-16 02:51:37 Source: Network

On May 15th, Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard was approved by the European Union.First Financial noticed that the European Commission released the above announcement on its official website on the same day

On May 15th, Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard was approved by the European Union.

First Financial noticed that the European Commission released the above announcement on its official website on the same day. The European Union stated that "Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been approved in accordance with the EU merger regulations. The conditions for approval are that Microsoft fully complies with the promises made, which fully address the competition issues determined by the committee

The official website announcement shows that this decision was made after an in-depth investigation into Microsoft's proposal to acquire Activision Blizzard. The committee found that Microsoft has no reason to refuse to distribute Activision Blizzard games to Sony. Sony is a leading global distributor of console games, and Microsoft will have a strong motivation to continue distributing Activision Blizzard games through popular devices like Sony's PlayStation.

Furthermore, even if Microsoft does decide to remove Activision Blizzard's games from PlayStation, it will not significantly harm the competition in the gaming console market. The popularity of Call of Duty in the European Economic Area is lower than in other parts of the world. Therefore, Sony can leverage its scale, extensive gaming IP, and market position to resist any attempt to weaken its competitive position.

However, the European Commission believes that this acquisition will harm the competition for distributing PC and console games through cloud game streaming services, which is an innovative niche market that can change the way many game players play video games. However, despite its potential, cloud game streaming is very limited today.

In order to address the competition issues identified by the committee, Microsoft has made two major commitments with a term of 10 years. One is to provide free licenses to consumers in the European Economic Area, allowing them to stream all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games they have licensed through any cloud game streaming service of their choice. Secondly, provide corresponding free licenses to cloud game streaming service providers, allowing players in the European Economic Area to stream any Activision Blizzard PC and console games.

The committee believes that these commitments fully address competition issues and represent a significant improvement in cloud game streaming compared to the current situation.

In January 2022, Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, setting a record for acquisition in the gaming industry. However, since the announcement, it has faced numerous obstacles.

At the end of April, the UK Competition and Market Authority (CMA) blocked Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard on the grounds of impaired gaming competition. CMA believes that the merger may bring higher prices, fewer options, and less innovation to UK players.

Martin Coleman, the chairman of the independent expert group conducting this survey, said: "Microsoft already has a strong position in the cloud gaming industry, ahead of other competitors. This transaction will strengthen this advantage and give it the ability to weaken innovative new competitors

Activision Blizzard CEO Obby Kotick later stated in a letter from all staff that "this is far from the final decision of this transaction". Bobby mentioned that Activision Blizzard will join Microsoft in raising objections to this decision and has started appealing to the UK Competition Appeals Tribunal.

At the same time, the US antitrust government agency, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is also seeking to ban this transaction. On December 8, 2022, FTC filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in an attempt to block its plan to acquire Activision Blizzard, believing that Microsoft's completion of the merger could potentially create a market monopoly.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is sourced from the internet. The copyright of the text, images, and other materials belongs to the original author. The platform reprints the materials for the purpose of conveying more information. The content of the article is for reference and learning only, and should not be used for commercial purposes. If it infringes on your legitimate rights and interests, please contact us promptly and we will handle it as soon as possible! We respect copyright and are committed to protecting it. Thank you for sharing.(Email:[email protected])

Mobile advertising space rental

Tag: Sudden EU approves Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard but