The redemption ofActivision-Blizzard by Microsoft is not yet acted. For it to be validated, the two entities must go through the approval of the various global regulators, and for the moment, the United Kingdom has been very skeptical about this operation, unlike Brazil which has already given its downstream. And as we could already suspect, it is the turn of the European Commission to be cautious by asking for an in-depth investigation on the subject.
Three major concerns for Europe
For the moment, this committee has expressed some concerns about the takeover of Activision-Blizzard. The reasons are more or less the same as those in the UK, namely the idea that Microsoft could restrict access to the publisher’s games by only publishing them on its platformsor that the services market could be strongly impactedwith the risk that no player can be as competitive as Microsoft.
Only concerns that Microsoft has already responded to over and over again in short, but Phil Spencer will once again have to release his greatest speeches to reassure everyone (while Jim Ryan and Sony have to rub their hands).
However, another point is raised by the European Commission, and this one is a little more novel. In addition to the console and service market, Europe fears that this takeover will also have consequences on the PC market. With such an offer offered by Microsoft, with its games and subscriptions, the commission indicates that this could discourage the public from taking PCs that are not equipped with Windows (understand by this Apple or Linux).
The investigation into the takeover will therefore be thorough, and the commission has given itself 90 days to respond to these problems. before making a final decision. We imagine that during this time, Microsoft will work hard to show its credentials.