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The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appeared in court and asked a judge to block Microsoft’s and Activision Blizzard’s deal. This court is the result of the FTC’s complaint against Microsoft, and the American regulator intends to temporarily make it impossible to close the contract.
If the deal goes through, Microsoft has the ability and incentive to “harm competition in certain markets related to consoles, subscription services and cloud gaming,” the FTC lawyer said.
The Federal Trade Commission argued that the addition of Activision to Microsoft’s subsidiary would give Xbox consoles exclusive access to Activision’s games and hurt Nintendo and PlayStation.
Meanwhile, Microsoft denies the FTC’s claims. If you look carefully at the market conditions, the company’s lawyer says, the most logical thing for Microsoft to do is to release Activision games to as many people and platforms as possible. He says that Microsoft will probably never be able to conclude the contract if the court takes a stand.
According to ReutersThe settlement of the FTC case is only one of the steps that Microsoft has to take on the way to acquire Activision. The company also faces opposition from UK regulators, but EU regulators have approved the deal.
The Federal Trade Commission says Activision’s $68.7 billion deal, the largest ever between Microsoft and the video game industry, allows the Redmond-based company to reduce competition in the market. To reduce competition, Microsoft may make exclusive content of Activision games available only for Xbox consoles.
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