Microsoft’s $69 billionAntitrust investigators from several countries are currently investigating Activision Blizzard. For example, in the USA, the Federal Trade Commission is (FTC). started lookingshortly after the announcement. According to reports, the FTC is now ready to act and will likely file an Antitrust Lawsuit to stop Microsoft’s huge purchase. Politico. Microsoft was unable to convince the FTC staff who reviewed the deal with its arguments. Politico’sSources said that the agency’s commissioners are yet to vote on whether to file a complaint or meet with lawyers.
Although a lawsuit isn’t 100% certain, the FTC is said to have completed the largest parts of its investigation, including the depositions by Satya Nadella, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, and the Microsoft chief Satya Nadella. The FTC could file a lawsuit as soon as next month if it decides to do so. According to the publication, the FTC will file the case in its in-house administrative court. It doesn’t need to take it to the federal court to obtain a temporary injunction. The acquisition is being looked at by other regulators, so it won’t be possible to proceed (if allowed to) until next year.
The UK is home to the Competition and Markets AuthorityThe CMA (Community Management Agency) conducted an in-depth investigation into the deal in September. Recenty, the European Commission has announced that it will conduct an in-depth investigation of the deal. a full-scale probeThe FTC is concerned about Microsoft’s acquisition. The FTC, like these European regulators is concerned that Microsoft’s acquisition will give it an unfair advantage in gaming and may reduce competition.
Sony was one of the most vocal opponents to the deal. It expressed concern that Microsoft might use valuable IPs such as those from the music industry. Call of DutyAn Xbox exclusive. Jim Ryan, Sony PlayStation’s CEO previously revealedMicrosoft offered to only keep Call of DutyAvailable on PlayStation for three more years following the expiration of the current agreement. However, Xbox chief Phil Spencer More recentlyThat the company is not “taking” Call of DutyPlayStation.” Microsoft’s Recent filings with the CMAIt argued that it won’t be unfairly disadvantaged by the acquisition: Sony has more exclusive titles than the Xbox and many of them have “better quality.”
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