At the beginning of February, Microsoft suffered a significant setback when the market regulatory authority in United Kingdomthe CMA (Competition and Markets Authority), expressed its provisional disagreement with the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. This fact added to the position already adopted by the United States Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission, which are two other regulatory organizations that have shown strong reluctance towards this acquisition, which led them to initiate an investigation process.
In the last three months, the CMA has repeatedly published its preliminary conclusions, which were initially not optimistic for Microsoft. In February, the organization expressed concern that the purchase of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft will increase the price of video game and hamper innovation in the industry. In addition, its first interim report mentioned the possibility that the Game Pass service of Microsoft was reducing sales of video game.
At that time, the outlook for Microsoft It was daunting, especially since Sony was lobbying market regulatory organizations to protect its interests. The owner of the PlayStation brand feared losing the “Call of Duty” franchise and many gamers moving to Xbox. The acquisition of Activision-Blizzard seemed to be in danger, but at the end of March, Microsoft received good news that suggested a different outcome from the one recently confirmed.
“Microsoft He engaged constructively with us to try to address these issues and we are grateful for that, but his proposals were ineffective in remedying our concerns and would have replaced competition with ineffective regulation in a dynamic new market.”
The president of Activision-BlizzardBobby Kotick says the company has already started working on an appeal for the United KingdomWith Microsoft.
The acquisition of Activision-Blizzard puts innovation and competition at risk according to CMA
The regulatory body for United Kingdom issued a final statement on March 24, where he favored Microsoft in its acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Although at first it was pointed out that making the “Call of Duty” franchise exclusive for Xbox would not be profitable for the American company, the most recent information indicates that Microsoft it would benefit more from keeping the franchise available for PlayStation consoles.
However, the CMA’s final resolution, which has just been made public, focuses on the regulator’s responsibility to protect innovation and competition in the video game. The regulator believes that the purchase of Activision-Blizzard would give to Microsoft a decisive competitive advantage in the field of cloud gaming, and could result in an increase in the price of Game Pass subscription. Despite Microsoft proposed to remedy these concerns, CMA does not believe it is enough.
The final resolution of CMA is limited in scope to United Kingdom, but it sets an important precedent that could be followed by other regulators around the world. The European Commission will pronounce itself on May 22, so it is important to remain prudent and not assume anything in favor of or against the interests of Microsoft.
2023-05-01 03:12:35
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