Microsoft is said to have cleared a significant regulatory obstacle as it works to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. According to Reuters, the company’s licence offers to competitors are intended to assuage European Commission (EU) antitrust worries over the $69 billion acquisition. Previously, the EU stated that it felt the agreement would “seriously decrease competition” in PC, console, and cloud gaming.
The EU is not likely to need asset sales in order to approve the agreement. Yet, the sale of Call of Duty has been a source of conflict; Microsoft wishes to keep the IP while utilising licencing deals to appease regulators. If the deal is completed, the corporation has committed to retain the series on competing platforms for at least 10 years; it is even bringing Call of Duty to Nintendo’s systems.
According to Microsoft, it is “committed to providing effective and readily enforced solutions that satisfy the European Commission’s concerns.” “Our pledge to provide Sony, Steam, NVIDIA, and others long-term 100% equal access to Call of Duty retains the deal’s advantages to players and developers while increasing market competition,” a Microsoft official told Reuters.
The agreement was announced in January 2022 to assist the firm compete against industry titans Tencent and Sony while creating its own take on the metaverse. “Gaming is the most vibrant and interesting sector in entertainment today across all platforms,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella remarked at the time.
Before the purchase can be consummated, Microsoft must still satisfy the US Federal Trade Commission and UK regulators. The corporation has until July to resolve the antitrust issues, or it will have to renegotiate or cancel the transaction (which might result in a $3 billion breakup fee).
