Microsoft wants to calm the game in the Activision file











Photo credit © UzirePictures


(Boursier.com) — In a public statement, Microsoft estimated that its plan to take over the video game publisher Activision would benefit “both players and other companies in the sector”. Recall that the group announced last January that it wanted to buy Activision for an estimated amount of $69 billion. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US competition policeman, however initiated proceedings at the beginning of the month aimed at blocking this takeover, saying it feared a serious violation of competition.

Microsoft filed an appeal aimed at convincing a judge of the instance to authorize its takeover project…

Brad Smith, president of the American computer group, announced earlier this month that Microsoft had proposed to the FTC to sign an executive order, according to which the company undertook to provide access to “Call of Duty” games to its competitors for a decade. “The acquisition of a single game by the manufacturer of the third console on the market cannot disrupt such a competitive industry. Especially if the manufacturer has made it clear that it will not block (access) to the game”, explains Microsoft in the appeal filed yesterday…

Multiple Concerns

The American competition policeman fears for his part a “serious harm” to competition. The move comes as UK competition and market regulators and the European Commission meanwhile continue to assess the deal. sony has lobbied regulators around the world to try to restrict plans for Microsoft. The FTC says the deal “would allow Microsoft to remove competitors from its Xbox game consoles and rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.”

The agency also accuses Microsoft of reneging on assurances given to European Union antitrust regulators when, in 2021,Microsoft had acquired game content developed by Bethesda Softworks… Despite assurances, Microsoft has made some of Bethesda’s games exclusive to its ecosystem, says the US regulator, also concerned that Microsoft is one of only two manufacturers high-performance consoles. The deal, announced by Microsoft in January this year, would make the software giant the world’s third-largest games company by revenue, behind Tencent and sony. Microsoft says the move will help it compete in the mobile gaming space and continue to grow its Xbox Cloud Gaming service. But this plan to take over the publisher of ‘Call of Duty’, ‘Overwatch’ and ‘Candy Crush’ has therefore triggered in-depth investigations in the USA, the United Kingdom and the EU…


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