Microsoft Unsure About Closing Activision Deal by June 2023, as EU Commission Comments on FTC’s Recent Claims
Following much fanfare about the massive Microsoft Xbox – Activision Blizzard acquisition, it seems like one of gaming’s biggest deals might be in jeopardy.
The deal continues to be scrutinized by competition regulators across the world, with the United States’ Federal Trade Commission (FTC) even slapping a lawsuit against the company to make sure that the deal doesn’t go through. The FTC has stated that the deal poses a threat to competition, with the acquisition potentially creating a monopoly.
With Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard under threat, it seems like the tech giants aren’t confident of the deal going through by June 30, 2023. According to a recent Bloomberg report, the Redmond-based company has now declined to comment on when the acquisition will be complete.
The FTC’s lawsuit can cause serious headaches for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, as it attempts to clear the $69 billion deal as soon as possible. However, the US commission is clear that they don’t want the deal to go through at all.
In its statements, the FTC claimed that Microsoft gave assurances to EU regulators, claiming that they had no incentives to withhold ZeniMax Media games from its competitors following the acquisition of Bethesda’s parent company. The commission further claimed that the tech giants plan to have titles like Redfall, Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI to be exclusives.
The rep adds: “Microsoft did not offer any commitments to the Commission.”
But they also note that its conclusions hadn’t relied on anything Microsoft said about future ZeniMax game exclusivity.
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) December 9, 2022
However, following a conversation with a rep from the EU agency, Axios’ Stephen Totillo shared that the commission cleared the deal, as it didn’t raise any competition concerns. Furthermore, the EU agency also confirmed that Microsoft didn’t offer any commitments to keep the games on rival consoles.
At this point, you might be thinking that the EU commission contradicted FTC’s justification with Microsoft’s decision to keep the games on rival consoles. However, the US regulator never really complained about Xbox deciding to ‘reverse’ its decision, as pointed out by Totillo himself.
So… what did the FTC say again yesterday? Not that Microsoft broke a promise to keep ZeniMax games exclusive. But that Microsoft gave assurances that it didn’t have an incentive to withhold ZeniMax games from rival platforms. pic.twitter.com/ZXWtyMO6wQ
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) December 9, 2022
Instead, the FTC had issues with Microsoft assuring the EU regulators of having no incentives to withheld games from other consoles, only for the company to do the opposite with upcoming titles like Redfall, Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI.
