The European Fee has granted permission for Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard following a "in-depth" investigation. This was just one of many roadblocks the company faced, as well as ongoing battles with the US' Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) and the UK's Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA).
The European Fee's findings are summarized in this table:
- Microsoft’s merger wouldn’t present them any incentive to refuse to distribute Activision-Blizzard video games to Sony consoles.
- Even when Microsoft did withhold these video games from Sony, it could not considerably hurt the console market.
- Even previous to the merger, Activision wouldn’t make its video games accessible on multi-game subscription companies (i.e. Xbox Recreation Go)
- If Microsoft made Activision video games unique to their cloud service, it could hurt the expansion of the market by decreasing competitors, and in addition enhance Microsoft’s place as a developer of PC working programs.
Microsoft has agreed to a free license that would allow residents of the European Financial Space to make use of any cloud platform they need to stream all current and future Activision-Blizzard video games, as well as a license that would enable cloud service providers to offer these companies in comparison to the present situation.
Moreover, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick made this claim about the pick.
The European Gaming Council (EC) established an especially rigorous and deliberate strategy in order to secure a strong competitor in our rapidly expanding business. We intend to expand our expertise and services throughout the European Union, especially in Europe. We anticipate European sport builders to continue to develop and innovate.
While this is certainly a significant victory for the merger, it still has a long way to go before it is allowed. Along with its EU position, the company should meet with the FTC at a hearing in August.
Do you anticipate that this merger will take place? Please provide your thoughts in the comments!
