Earlier this year in January, Microsoft had announced that it was acquiring Activision Blizzard for US$68.7 billion and the deal would be completed by the middle of 2023 after all legal clearances. If successful the acquisition would be the most expensive one yet when it comes to video games.
Recently, Microsoft has dedicated an entire section of its website to explain why the acquisition of Activision Blizzard is a good thing for the gaming sector and to update people about the ongoing acquisition process.
Microsoft claims that the acquisition is required to give players more choice in different gaming platforms where some of the companies are already enjoying a monopoly and will aim to create an equilibrium in the competition.
“As we’ve said before, we are committed to making the same version of Call of Duty available on PlayStation on the same day the game launches elsewhere. In addition, we hope that players will be eager to play traditional console games from Activision Blizzard on other platforms via our cloud game streaming technology,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said.
This move from Microsoft can also be seen as an attempt to create a positive image in the eyes of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) who is already investigating the deal for concern over competition issues that might arise after the deal completes.
The deal was also notified to the European Commission on Friday and they now have until November 8 to either approve the deal or start a more in-depth investigation which can take up to 90 working days and then decide if the deal is suitable or not.
The CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jim Ryan, has praised the CMA for investigating the deal and is in full support of further in-depth investigation saying the deal might create problems for their Playstation platform.
The green light to the deal means Microsoft will then own a majority of valuable IPs namely Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch and World of Warcraft. While Microsoft has reiterated and spoken several times that the games will be available on all platforms and won’t be made exclusives, Sony is still worried for their PlayStation platform.