Microsoft is trying to persuade regulators to approve its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard with a series of new app store commitments that it says will put the company “on the right side of history.”
Meanwhile, policymakers around the world debate new laws to force open competition in digital markets.
The 11-point pledge, announced Wednesday, includes commitments by Microsoft to allow third-party app stores on its platforms and not give preferential treatment to its own games published in the digital marketplaces the company manages.
Microsoft has also committed to allowing software developers to use whichever payment system they prefer, rather than requiring them to use Microsoft’s proprietary channels.
The pledge encompasses not just the Activision Blizzard deal, but virtually all of Microsoft’s gaming business going forward, including metaverse platforms, CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith told reporters during a visit to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. -market.
The announcement is a centerpiece of Microsoft’s speech to antitrust regulators to bless the Activision Blizzard merger – the biggest in the company’s history.
The settlement focuses antitrust scrutiny on a tech giant that has so far avoided much of the criticism and skepticism that has been directed in recent years at other Silicon Valley giants, including Apple, Facebook and Google.
It also reflects an effort by Microsoft to pre-empt legislation targeting major app store operators.
“We want to compete. We want to compete for users; we want to compete for publishers,” Nadella told reporters. “I want us to approach this with principles, where we are building our platforms, our technology, so that we are on the right side of history.”
The announcement comes amid a global assessment for app stores, as software developers have revolted against what they say are high store fees and draconian policies that harm consumers.
These tensions culminated most visibly in a lawsuit by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games against Apple — litigation that Microsoft backed up with a “friend of the court” request defending positions against the iPhone maker.
As part of Wednesday’s pledge, Microsoft promised that video games produced under its own banner — including titles it plans to acquire from Activision Blizzard, such as “Call of Duty” — will not receive preferential treatment in its app stores over games. competitors.
She also said that she would not use data collected from app store activity to compete with developers, and added that she would not prevent app makers from contacting their users directly with information about pricing or product offerings.
These commitments reflect a stark contrast to the policies and practices of some other tech giants that have come under fire. A major complaint against Google, for example, is that it ranked or prioritized its own apps and services higher in search results.
Apple and Google have pushed hard against Congressional legislation to force US app stores to open, saying the proposed new rules could undermine user safety. (On Wednesday, Microsoft said that apps on its platform would still need to pass “reasonable” security reviews.)
Separately, Microsoft said it has committed to Sony that popular franchises acquired from Activision Blizzard will remain available on PlayStation under Activision’s existing agreement with Sony, and offered to extend the agreement on a “multi-year basis.” The existing deal with Sony runs until 2024, Smith said.
The commitments will take effect immediately on Microsoft’s Windows store, Smith said, while a smaller subset will initially apply to the Xbox store before expanding to include all 11 principles.
All the principles will also apply immediately after the launch of an upcoming app store that Microsoft is developing, which executives dubbed the “universal store”.
“This store will allow people to connect across all devices, globally,” said Sarah Bond, one of Xbox’s chief executives.
Trying to stay ahead of the scrutiny
The historic merger as regulators around the world rethink how to apply competition laws to the digital world. Just a few years ago, the Activision Blizzard deal wouldn’t have attracted much scrutiny, said Smith, who added that the acquisition would make Microsoft the world’s third-largest game publisher after Tencent and Sony.
“Regulators are usually not so concerned about a company becoming number three,” Smith said.
“But we’re not in the world of 2018 or 2019, it’s 2022. And we recognize that there will be more scrutiny of any major acquisition being made by a major tech company. This forces us to act quickly and proactively and be very transparent about how we manage this business, with a clear eye on the competition law issues and responsibilities we have.”
In addition to the deal’s impact on video game players and app stores, regulators can look at the merger’s effect on competition in job markets, Nadella acknowledged — an area in which US regulators have shown increasing interest.
This could be particularly relevant in light of recent reports of sexual harassment and a toxic workplace at Activision Blizzard, a crisis that Nadella said Microsoft may seek to resolve once Activision Blizzard fulfills its existing public commitments on the matter.
Nadella argued that the merger is pro-competitive from a labor perspective, because Microsoft “is the employer of choice” among people working in games.
“So if you want to take a much broader view and say, ‘What does this do to people who work in the gaming industry?’” he said, “I think Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our commitment to the people who work in the gaming industry is another element that will serve us well as we go through the review process around the world.”
Last week, Microsoft filed formal documents with the Federal Trade Commission to begin the merger review process and delivered an initial briefing to the FTC team, Smith said.
Wednesday’s commitments will be implemented regardless of whether the Activision Blizzard deal is closed or whether governments around the world succeed in passing app store legislation, Smith said.
“This will be the right thing for players and our employees, and it sends a clear message to regulators that we are supporting each other and adapting to the types of issues they want to solve,” Smith said.
Source: CNN Brasil

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