Microsoft‘s plan of acquiring Activision Blizzard has been given a go signal by EU regulators. This happened a week after UK regulators stopped the said acquisition.
Microsoft’s USD 68.7 Billion Acquisition
The European Commission found solutions to enable the approval of the deal by Microsoft. These solutions involve 10-year licensing agreements offered by the American company to competitors.
As part of these agreements, consumers in EU countries will receive a free license to stream current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games through any cloud game streaming service of their choice, as long as they possess a license for these games.
Additionally, cloud providers will also receive a free license to stream these games in EU markets.
These licenses are automatic and will allow you to play on any cloud gaming service you prefer.
“Our decision represents an important step in this direction, by bringing Activision’s popular games to many more devices and consumers than before thanks to cloud game streaming.”
Margrethe Vestager, European Commission Executive Vice President in charge of Competition Policy
However, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK is concerned that if the tech giant acquires Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft, it would create a significant advantage for Microsoft in the cloud gaming market.
The CMA estimates that Microsoft currently holds a share of around 60 to 70 percent in the global cloud gaming services market.
The CMA defends its position by stating that this 10-year deal would harm cloud gaming as a whole and that they would substitute a market that is free, open, and competitive with one that is subject to continuous regulation of Microsoft’s game sales, the platforms on which they are sold, and the terms of sale.
Aside from this, the next hurdle Microsoft must face is on its home turf. The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to prevent the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal in late 2022, and the case is currently in the document discovery stage. An evidentiary hearing has been scheduled for August 2, 2023, so it will be several months before the outcome of the case is known.
So for now, we can only wait for further developments in this legal battle between Microsoft and other regulators.
Started his freelancing adventure in 2018 and began doing freelance Audio Engineering work and then started freelance writing a few years later.
Currently he writes for Gadget Pilipinas and Grit.PH.
He is also a musician, foody, gamer, and PC enthusiast.
