According to a news release from the regulator, the FTC has submitted a legal obstacle to try and block Microsoft’s plan to purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.
The claim was filed today after weeks of back and forth between Microsoft, Sony, and regulators over competitors’ concerns and the future of Call of Duty. The FTC argues that the acquisition would “enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox video gaming consoles and its rapidly growing membership content and cloud-gaming business.”
The vote from the FTC commissioners today means Microsoft now deals with substantial difficulties to getting its Activision Blizzard deal total. Regulators in the UK and EU are also inspecting the offer closely, regardless of Microsoft’s repeated attempts to calm regulators.
Read our coverage of the Microsft – Activision Blizzard acquisition.
” Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold material from its gaming competitors,” Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, stated in a statement. “Today, we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and utilizing it to hurt competition in numerous dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”
” We continue to believe that this offer will broaden competitors and create more opportunities for players and game developers,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president stated in a declaration to The Brink. “We have been devoted considering that The first day to addressing competitors’ concerns, consisting of using earlier today’s proposed concessions to the FTC. While our companies believe in offering peace a chance, we have complete confidence in our case and welcome the chance to present our case in court.”
The business’s vice president of interactions, Frank X. Shaw, tweeted a link to a file entitled: “Get The Truths: How Microsoft is Devoted to Growing Gaming Neighborhoods.”
In a letter to Activision Blizzard staff members, CEO Bobby Kotick informed staff that he wants to “enhance my self-confidence” and that the acquisition will close. “The accusation that this offer is anti-competitive does not align with the realities, and our company believes we’ll win this challenge,” he stated. The company also published an internal email penned by Jeb Boatman, Activision’s SVP of litigation, regulatory, and public policy law, outlining its position on the offer.
Microsoft offered Sony a 10-year offer on brand-new Call of Duty video games last month, however, Sony hasn’t yet accepted the deal. A similar deal was agreed upon in between Nintendo and Valve, though. Call of Duty could be heading to Nintendo consoles if the Activision Blizzard offer is authorized.
Microsoft’s frustrations over Sony’s objections to its Activision Blizzard offer have been evident. “Sony has become the loudest objector,” stated Microsoft president Brad Smith in a Wall Street Journal op-ed recently. “It’s as thrilled about this offer as Hit was about the rise of Netflix.” Microsoft also described the UK’s Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) concerns as “misplaced” and accused the regulator of adopting “Sony’s problems without considering the potential damage to consumers.”
Microsoft has likewise accused Sony of paying designers to keep their content off of its Xbox Video game Pass service. Sony has even argued that Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition could “harm developers and lead to cost rises.”
