No industry news games there are as many chapters this year as Microsoft’s $70 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard was announced in January. The agreement is currently undergoing general review by regulators around the world.
Regardless of Microsoft’s next steps after the eventual successful completion of the acquisition, there is no doubt that this acquisition will have a major impact on the future. gamesespecially in connection with the presence Xbox Game Pass and the console’s cloud gaming service.
However, as mentioned, Microsoft is under a global investigation by regulators to make sure the purchase doesn’t lead to antitrust issues. The UK competition regulator, the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority), made it clear this Thursday (01) that the investigation could move to phase 2, i.e. a deeper investigation into the agreement.
According to the CMA, the purchase is a matter of concern and an in-depth investigation will be carried out due to the possibility of reduced competition in the market. In this sense, the agency says that this will definitely happen if Call of Duty becomes a Microsoft exclusive, which has been widely discussed in the chapters of this novel, especially after Sony show your concerns.
“CoD” is controversial in the midst of this acquisition due to its popularity, as the company from Game console even stating that the game could become the dominant company in the field. On the other hand, Microsoft has already stated that FPS will remain on other platforms. Brad Smith, current president and vice president of the company Xboxrepeated the solution.
“Microsoft is ready to work with the CMA on the next steps and address any issues they have,” Smith said. “Sony, as an industry leader, says it’s concerned about Call of Duty, but we’ve said we’re committed to making the same game available on the same day on Xbox and PlayStation. We want people to have more access to games, not less,” he added.
Seven months after Microsoft’s announcement of the acquisition, only Saudi Arabia has reported approval of the deal. Us USAThe agreement is reviewed in the second step of the process by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
“An increasing number of countries are subjecting major global transactions to greater scrutiny,” William Kovacic, former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, said in an interview with Fox40. “Many of the jurisdictions that do this review offer significant savings and cannot be ruled out.”
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To win over some of the most skeptical pundits in the US, Microsoft is also looking to remove the toxic culture image associated with Activision Blizzard. Companies have been sued several times by federal civil rights advocates for discrimination in the workplace. To get around this problem, Xbox organizes union work with company employees.
Thus, the soap opera associated with this deal should spawn many episodes before the final acquisition, and Microsoft estimates that the end of this process should only end in 2023. Meanwhile, studio acquisition announcements should become even more constant as Sony’s recent acquisitions of Bungie and Savage Game Studios.
