Nov. 3 (Portaltic/EP) –
The European Commission (EC) plans to launch an investigation into the purchase agreement of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, after it did not present the corresponding resources to the antitrust authorities of this European body.
Last January, the manufacturer of the Xbox console reached a commercial agreement to buy the video game developer for an amount of around 60,300 million euros, news that generated discomfort in its main competitor, Sony.
The Japanese company, which is also in charge of manufacturing the main competitor of the Microsoft console, PlayStation, then considered that if this acquisition proceeded would put the risk of the availability of Activision Blizzard video games and with support for your ‘gaming’ product.
Based on this strategy, which could lead to a monopoly in this area as Microsoft absorbs all the titles in its cloud video game service, xboxgamepass, This agreement is being investigated in different countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Brazil and the United Kingdom.
In the latter, the Competition and Markets Authority of the United Kingdom (CMA) is analyzing all the documentation of the purchase of the developer, as well as the statements of Microsoft and the allegations of Sony, which opposes its execution of said agreement. This investigation, which has been ongoing for months, is currently in its second phase and will conclude on March 1, 2023.
Now the European Commission has announced that it plans to launch a in-depth investigation about this agreement because Microsoft has not submitted the documentation necessary to demonstrate that it will not exercise a monopoly before the competent authorities.
The Xbox manufacturer had a deadline of midnight on Wednesday, November 1 to do so. Because it has not shared them with this body, the European Commission plans to formally announce its intention to launch an investigation into the agreement in the so-called Phase 2. This announcement will take place on November 8, as you have been able to know POLITICAL.
According to a document to which this medium has had access, the EC would have been questioning Microsoft’s competition about the company’s activity around games and services in the cloud. It would also have been analyzing the risk that this manufacturer could block access to Call Of Duty.
