The UK antitrust regulator said Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of game maker Activision Blizzard could hurt competition from consoles, subscription services and cloud gaming, and needed to be investigated further.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Thursday that the deal, the biggest ever in the games segment, could harm the industry if Microsoft refuses to give competitors access to Activision’s best-selling games.
“We are concerned that Microsoft could use its control over popular games like ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘World of Warcraft’ after the transaction to harm competitors, including recent and future rivals” in subscription services and cloud gaming, the regulator said. .
Microsoft, which owns Xbox, and its rivals Sony and Nintendo have led the console market for 20 years, with limited new entrants, the CMA said.
Microsoft and Activision said they would continue to cooperate with the CMA.
“We want people to have more access to games, not less,” said Microsoft President and Vice Chairman Brad Smith.
“Sony, as an industry leader, says they’re concerned about ‘Call of Duty,’ but we said we’re committed to making the same game available on the same day on Xbox and PlayStation,” he said.
Activision still expects the deal to close by the end of June 2023.
The two companies have until September 8 to submit proposals that address the regulator’s concerns.
The CMA said Microsoft is well positioned to succeed in cloud gaming, as it owns Azure, the leader in the cloud platform, and Windows, the leader in the operating system segment, in addition to Xbox.
The regulator said these strengths in combination with Activision’s games could hurt competition in the nascent market for cloud gaming services.
Microsoft said it is committed to expanding choice for users through its Game Pass subscription service and bringing more games to mobile devices.
The company said full analysis from regulators will show that the combination of Microsoft’s and Activision Blizzard’s businesses will benefit the industry and players.
Source: CNN Brasil
