The CMA, the British regulator in charge of Competition, has given a new status to the analysis it is making of the purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. The deal was announced earlier this year for $68.7 billion. Given the size of the two companies, the market was quick to express concern about the more advantageous position Microsoft may achieve with the completion of the deal.
On September 1, the CMA revealed that, based on its analysis, it considered that Microsoft could be in a position to limit the business of other rivals. And he left a deadline for both companies to present ways in which the business would not be so burdensome in terms of competition. If the arguments were not sufficient, the entity would proceed to a phase 2 investigation.
British competition says Microsoft’s purchase of Activision could penalize rivals. Companies have 5 days to submit proposals
This Thursday, the CMA announced that it will conduct an even deeper investigation into the deal. The entity considers that, “on the basis of the information currently available, it is or could be the case that the merger would result in a material reduction within the UK market or markets”. This Wednesday, the Financial Times newspaper had already advanced, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the CMA would advance with a deeper investigation of the business.
This research will be carried out by a research group. According to the announcement made, the investigation will be led by Martin Coleman and will have the support of experts such as John Thanassoulis, Humphrey Battcock and Ashleye Gunn.
In addition to investigating the British market, the European Union is also analyzing the operation, given the size of the companies involved. But according to the Financial Times, the Brussels investigation could take even longer.
Earlier this month, the CMA said it was “concerned that if Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard, it could harm rivals, including recent and future competitors in the industry, by denying access to Activision Blizzard games or by accessing under much worse conditions.
Activision Blizzard is responsible for popular games like “Call of Duty” or “World of Warcraft”. It’s also in the ownership of these games, if the business goes ahead, that’s cause for concern: as Microsoft owns the Xbox console, there are fears that the company will pull these games from platforms like PlayStation. “After the phase one investigation, we are concerned that Microsoft may use this controller in popular games like Call of Duty or World of Warcraft after the merger to harm rivals, including recent and future rivals in gaming subscription services. multiple games and cloud gaming services”. said Sorcha O’Carroll, senior director of mergers at CMA.
Microsoft has publicly said that “Call of Duty” will still be available on PlayStation if the deal goes through, “for several years.” However, news has emerged that PlayStation owner Sony found Microsoft’s offer to keep the franchise on PS “inappropriate on many levels”.
“Microsoft only made the offer to keep ‘Call of Duty’ on PlayStation for another three years after the current deal between Activision and Sony ended,” PlayStation boss Jim Ryan told Games Industry.biz. “After almost 20 years of ‘Call of Duty’ on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and did not take into account the impact on our players. We want to ensure that PlayStation players continue to have a high-quality experience with the game, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines that principle.”
Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard, the video game giant that owns “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft”
Source: Observadora
