Europe needs more time to decide on the merger of Microsoft and Activision: what we know about the operation

New date in the long soap opera that the purchase of Activision Blizzard has become, a historic operation that —if it finally comes together— will lead Microsoft to pay out 69,000 million dollars for the popular video game holding company. The European Union (EU) has decided to give itself a little more leeway and postpone the May 22nd his decision on whether or not to approve the operation.

The pronouncement is important for those from Redmond, who have been waiting for months before the three organizations that will have to decide if the million-dollar purchase will harm the market. In the US, the decision is in the hands of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in England from the Markets and Competition Authority (CMA) and in the EU of the antitrust regulatory authorities, who have now decided to postpone the deadline for transferring their resolution by almost a month: instead of doing so On April 25as planned, they will do so at the end of May.

It is not the first time that Brussels tweak the calendar. In November the EC decided to open an “in-depth” investigation into the agreement between Microsoft Activision. His decision on whether or not the operation should be approved was expected for, at most, the April 11. At the beginning of March, the EU regulators decided, however, to extend the margin and set a new date on the calendar: On April 25, deadline that now –advances Reuters— has been postponed for almost a month.

An operation seen with a magnifying glass

From Brussels, the reasons have not been revealed, but the decision comes shortly after Microsoft has reached agreements with several companies to share ‘Call of Duty’ with their platforms. Just a few days ago those of Redmond they announced a pact ten years with Boosteroid to port Xbox games to PC and Activison titles—including the shooter— to the cloud gaming service and soon after gave a similar step with Ubitus. The multinational has also signed agreements with Nvidia and Nintendogiving ‘Call of Duty’ a key role.

It’s not by chance. The Activision franchise is a of the most lucrative of the world and turns out to be crucial for PlayStation revenue, from Sony, which despite the guarantees and even the agreement offered by Microsoft fears that the purchase of Activision Blizzard could deal a severe blow to the market and, ultimately, negatively affect competition between companies.

The transaction is being closely examined by the regulators of the different markets, who have already made a move. Late last year the FTC filed a lawsuit against Microsoft to stop the purchase and a little over a month ago transcended that the British CMA, which has been investigating the transaction since September, fears that the operation will harm competition.

Boosteroid and Microsoft have signed a 10-year agreement to bring Xbox PC games to Boosteroid!

It includes Xbox, Bethesda titles, and Activision Blizzard games like Call of Duty after the acquisition is complete. Excited to see these games becoming widely available in the cloud! pic.twitter.com/0i9w09EW9I

— Boosteroid (@Boosteroid_main) March 14, 2023

“Available evidence indicates that it would be commercially beneficial for Microsoft to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service (or only available on others under worse conditions),” signal regulatorwhich warns that certain strategic gamesincluding ‘Call of Duty’, play a crucial role in the competition.

Reuters, which has advanced the calendar change in Brussels, swipe that the company could achieve EU antitrust approval. Weeks ago the agency spoke in a similar direction. Now, and after the latest agreements signed by those from Redmond, the regulator will probably dedicate themselves to gathering the opinions of the sector. “We have kept our promise to bring ‘Call of Duty’ to more players on more devices,” they claim from the multinational.

For now, the change in the calendar of the European Union focuses even more on the decision of the British CAM, which as Bloomberg advances is ready to decide on the transaction in just over a month: April 26.

Cover image: Microsoft

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