Microsoft’s $68.7 Billion offer to acquire Activision Blizzard is facing a lot of legal trouble as the regulators are determined to maintain healthy competition in the industry without forming any monopoly that could harm the consumers and competitors according to the competition regulators.
Recently, Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard entered the second phase of investigation at the EU Commission. The regulators are now conducting a more in-depth analysis of the deal to give a fair and unbiased verdict to safeguard the healthy competition of the industry.
As a part of this second phase investigation, the EU Regulatory body has sent a 91-page questionnaire to Xbox/Microsoft competitors in the gaming industry that includes the gaming developers, publishers, console manufacturers, gaming studios, and PC parts providers, according to a recent report by Reuters.
A person familiar with this matter has also told Reuters the magnitude of the questions asked in this survey. According to the source, the EU Commission asks competitors how the Activision Blizzard deal will affect the gaming industry if approved. In addition, the questions inquired about how Microsoft could make the content and games under Activision partially Xbox exclusive or degrade the quality of content on competitor’s hardware if the deal gets through.
The question also includes whether Microsoft could increase the retail price of Activision games for other consoles after the acquisition. Another question asked whether Microsoft could make Xbox-exclusive enhancements and updates for Activision games after the deal.
The document also included which gaming franchise is most important for gaming console manufacturers. And are there Call of Duty alternatives, and what are the advantages and disadvantages for developers, publishers, and manufacturers if a game is exclusive to one console?
However, Microsoft has recently offered a 10-year deal for Call of Duty to be available on multiple platforms even after the agreement, and the offer was presented to Sony, Nintendo, and Steam.
But this recent report clearly shows that the regulators are scrutinizing the deal and companies like Google and Sony are not happy with this deal; even the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft to block this deal.
Still, the Microsoft Activision deal has been approved unconditionally in three out of eight countries, including Siberia. However, considering the current investigation and legal issues the deal is going through, it will take much more time to get approved.
What are your thoughts about the EU Commission sending out this new survey? Let us know in the comment section below.
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