[ad_1]
As expected, the drama behind Microsoft acquiring Activision-Blizzard is still ongoing more than a year after we first got the news. A deal this big needs to be approved by several large governmental bodies, and Microsoft is still locked in the battle with them. However, the deal did strike a victory, as the EU has approved Microsoft taking over Activision-Blizzard, according to BBC.
In case you didn’t know, in February of last year, Microsoft moved to acquire Activision-Blizzard, one of the largest companies in the gaming market. This deal weighs in at a whopping $68.7 billion, and it would be the largest acquisition in video game history.
Activision-Blizzard owns franchises such as Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and several other video game sensations. That’s not to speak of the plethora of smaller video game franchises under the company’s belt. Activision-Blizzard will give Microsoft reigns over a fairly large chunk of the video game market.
As you can tell, organizations wanting a competition-rich video game industry do not like this idea. So Microsoft has been battling this ever since.
The EU has approved Microsoft taking over Activision-Blizzard
While many people do not want the deal to go through, it appears that the EU does. The European Commission (EC), under the EU, notes that Microsoft did address the concerns that people have. The issue is that people don’t like so much power in the video game industry being under one company. Their fear is that Microsoft will make these large video game franchises exclusive to Xbox consoles.
Microsoft promises to offer 10 years of free licensing deals, which means that other consoles and cloud streaming services will have access to the Activision-Blizzard games during that time.
This means that Microsoft will not keep the Activision-Blizzard titles away from Sony console users, Nintendo console users, or people who use other cloud gaming services. From a competition standpoint, this means that, ostensibly, nothing will really change in the video gaming market.
We will have to see how Microsoft’s leadership will influence the games that come out in the future. In any case, the tech giant can mark this as one victory for its case
However, there is still opposition
Microsoft did win the EU’s approval, but that’s not the only opponent in the ring. The US FTC is still battling Microsoft on this deal as is the UK. Recently, the UK rejected the proposal with a shocking veto.
Also, the FTC has been trying to sue Microsoft in order to stop the deal. That case is ongoing, and we may not get a verdict for a while. This means that this case could spill into 2024. So, you shouldn’t expect any major changes to happen this year or even next year.
[ad_2]
Source link