The U.S.’s Federal Trade Commission has sued to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard on the grounds that the deal would threaten to suppress competition within the gaming industry.
Earlier this year, Microsoft broke the internet with the announcement that it had plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for a whopping $US69 billion. Since the announcement, Microsoft has come under scrutiny from government officials in the U.S. and abroad, some of whom feel the deal would heavily tip the scales in Microsoft’s favour against its competitors. According to the FTC’s press release, the agency reasoned that Microsoft would be able to stifle its competitors by making games Xbox exclusives and manipulating game prices, should the deal go through.
“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its rivals,” Holly Vedova, the FTC’s Bureau of Competition director said in the press release. “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing markets.”
Sony has particularly made a sticking point over the leverage that owning Call of Duty could give the Xbox maker. Just yesterday, Microsoft boss Phil Spencer extended a thinly-veiled olive branch to Xbox’s competitors by announcing on Twitter that the company plans on bringing Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch and Steam.
I’m also pleased to confirm that Microsoft has committed to continue to offer Call of Duty on @Steam simultaneously to Xbox after we have closed the merger with Activision Blizzard King. @ATVI_AB @ValveSoftware
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 7, 2022
“Our acquisition will bring Call of Duty to more gamers and more platforms than ever before. That’s good for competition and good for consumers,” Microsoft president Brad Smith wrote in a tweet. “Thank you @Nintendo. Any day @Sony wants to sit down and talk, we’ll be happy to hammer out a 10-year deal for PlayStation as well.”