European Commission Opens In-Depth Investigation Into the Xbox and Activision Blizzard Deal
The European Commission is scrutinizing Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The European Commission announced today that it has launched a detailed investigation into the business proposal.according to press releasethe committee is concerned that the deal “may reduce market competition” for video games and PCs. .
Specifically, the Commission addressed concerns regarding Call of Duty in the following statement:
In particular, the Commission believes that by acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft will be able to sell Activision Blizzard’s console and PC video games, specifically “Call of Duty’.”
Since officials began investigating the proposed merger, Microsoft has repeatedly shared its intention to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation console. The latest reassurance from Xbox’s Phil Spencer just arrived last week, saying that Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation “as long as his PlayStation ships.”
In fact, Xbox’s official response to the European Commission’s investigation even mentioned Call of Duty.In a statement from a Microsoft spokesperson Tom Warren of The Verge“Industry leader Sony says it’s concerned about Call of Duty, but is committed to making the same game available on both Xbox and PlayStation on the same day,” Microsoft said. said.
Microsoft has managed to raise concerns about Sony’s Call of Duty in response to an EU investigation into its deal with Activision. https://t.co/xFjVJMWRmA pic.twitter.com/ACO9R0ACEn
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) November 8, 2022
The European Commission’s release also said it would investigate the potential impact of the acquisition on video game subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus. Finally, the Commission concluded that Microsoft’s acquisition “dissuaded users from purchasing non-Windows PCs” if Microsoft combined “the games of Activision Blizzard with Microsoft’s distribution of games via cloud game streaming to Windows.” We will also investigate whether it will be possible to
The European Commission’s concerns are similar to those of the UK government, which recently sought public opinion on the issue. Microsoft’s sizable acquisition has also been condemned by several US Senators, New York City, and the US Department of Justice. Throughout the review process, Spencer has expressed satisfaction with the progress of the acquisition.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over 6 years of experience in the games industry and has bylines for IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
