Microsoft’s Final Attempt to Defend $69 Billion Acquisition Bid for Activision Blizzard, Maker of Call of Duty

Microsoft is set to defend its $69 billion (roughly Rs. 5,71,800 crore) bid for Activision Blizzard, the maker of Call of Duty, in front of EU and national antitrust officials during a closed hearing on February 21. The U.S. software company requested the hearing after being warned about potential anti-competitive effects by the European Commission. A Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed the oral hearing.

The acquisition was announced by the Xbox maker in January of last year as a strategy to compete effectively against Tencent and Sony, but it has received regulatory pushback in Europe, the United States, and Britain. Microsoft is expected to offer remedies after the hearing. As a remedy, Microsoft has signed a ten-year deal with Nintendo to make Call of Duty available on their consoles, a move aimed at convincing competition enforcers but criticized by Sony. Sony wants the deal to be blocked, fearing that Xbox will have an exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Sony’s PlayStation out in the cold. Last month, Playstation CEO Jim Ryan met with the EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager to discuss the deal. The US Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit to block the deal, and UK regulators have also expressed concerns. An earlier report suggested that Microsoft argued that the deal would benefit gamers and gaming companies alike, offering to sign a legally binding consent decree with the FTC to provide Call of Duty games to rivals including Sony for a decade. Michael Chappell, the FTC administrative law judge, will determine the deal after hearings scheduled for August 2023. The European Union is expected to decide by March 23 whether to clear or block the deal. © Thomson Reuters 2023