We know better the context behind the surprise complaint filed by the FTC in the United States against the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft at the end of 2022. The maneuver would have been strategic to slow down the procedure in Europe.
In December 2022, the Federal Trade Commission in the United States has decided to sue Microsoft and Activision to block the acquisition of the latter by the former. A historic takeover project, both the biggest in history for video games, tech and Microsoft.
A survey of Bloomberg now comes to lift the veil on the context of this accusation which specifies the strategy of the Americans and clarifies one of their objectives: the European Union.
Undermining the negotiation between Microsoft and Europe
As some analysts might have imagined, the FTC’s decision to sue Microsoft and Activision and to announce it at the end of 2022 has overtaken the Redmond firm as well as the European Union.
According to Bloomberg, the FTC released its announcement a few hours after a conversation between representatives of the American agency and their equivalent on the European Union side. During this discussion, the European representatives reportedly indicated their intention to negotiate with Microsoft.
Sources close to the matter interviewed by the outlet revealed that they instead expected FTC action in the spring of 2023, after notices from the EU and UK. By taking everyone by surprise, the FTC therefore sent a very strong signal. In doing so, where the project could seem off to a good start, with Microsoft very confident of its file, its future seemed much more uncertain after the opening of this procedure.
Why did the FTC choose this strategy? If Microsoft had succeeded in negotiating with the European Union, the latter could have validated the project very early on. This validation from Europe would have made any maneuver by the authorities in other countries more difficult. Indeed, Microsoft no doubt intended to sign agreements with the EU which would have had an international value of the type ” we will be bringing Call of Duty to other platforms around the world for several years “. This kind of agreement would have greatly weakened the FTC’s case.
Negotiation is still possible
The rest, we know, the European Union did not finally negotiate with Microsoft and is preparing to publish a warning against the takeover. The latter should list the problematic points of the project and officially open a new phase of negotiation.
The EU and the UK must make their decision by the end of April 2023.
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