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(This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/05\/15\/europe-greenlights-microsofts-68-7b-activision-acquisition\/<\/a><\/br> The European Commission (EC) has given<\/a> the go-ahead to Microsoft\u2019s proposed $68.7 billion bid<\/a> for gaming giant Activision.<\/p>\n The news comes a few weeks after the U.K. emerged<\/a> as the first jurisdiction to block the megabucks deal, though the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the U.S. is suing to thwart the deal<\/a> too.<\/p>\n Europe had been mulling an in-depth probe<\/a> for some time, confirming back in November that it was concerned that the coming together of Microsoft and Activision could reduce competition in both the console and PC video game market. The EC had set a deadline of 25th April to announce a decision, but it pushed its decision back<\/a> after receiving further remedies and commitments from Microsoft. It was widely expected<\/a> that the deal would be rubberstamped today, and that has now been confirmed, with the EC\u2019s final report noting that the approval is \u201cconditional on full compliance with the commitments offered by Microsoft.\u201d<\/p>\n Microsoft first tabled its bid for Activision in January last year, a deal that sought to combine Microsoft\u2019s distribution might in the console and PC realm with one of the largest third-party game publishers in the world \u2014 Activision is responsible for mega-franchises such as Call of Duty, Candy Crush, and World of Warcraft. With Activision under its wing, Microsoft would effectively become the third-biggest gaming company in the world by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.<\/p>\n At the heart of antitrust legislators\u2019 concerns is that Microsoft would have too much clout and control over the distribution of games, vis-\u00e0-vis<\/em> it would have the incentive to either withhold popular gaming titles from rival gaming platforms or otherwise create a lesser playing experience on alternatives to encourage people to switch to its ecosystem which includes Xbox and Windows.<\/p>\n While the U.K. had previously focused on the deal\u2019s impact in both console and cloud gaming, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) narrowed its case to the latter only. It said that while Microsoft could conceivably withhold games from PlayStation, Sony\u2019s console had sufficient market share that meant this would likely remain a profitable and attractive conduit for Microsoft to continue supporting with Activision games. With cloud gaming, though, it said that the proliferation of Windows and its \u201csignificant cloud infrastructure\u201d could give Microsoft an unfair advantage.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that Microsoft has made numerous commitments<\/a> to keep Activision games<\/a> on rival platforms, including Sony, Nintendo and Nvidia, for a 10-year period. However, the CMA argued that Microsoft\u2019s proposals couldn\u2019t replace the existing \u201ccompetitive dynamism,\u201d and would be too reliant on Microsoft\u2019s say-so and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n In the wake of the U.K.\u2019s blockade, both companies came out aggressively, with an Activision spokesperson saying at the time that the U.K.\u2019s conclusions \u201care a disservice to U.K. citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects,\u201d adding that it would \u201creassess\u201d its growth plans for the U.K. due to it being \u201cclosed for business.\u201d<\/p>\n While Europe has been<\/a> a fairly active party in holding big tech companies\u2019 to account<\/a> for anti-competitive malpractice, it has never been a major proponent of stonewalling mergers and acquisitions in the tech world outside of the telecoms industry<\/a>. So today\u2019s findings are pretty much in keeping with previous form.<\/p>\n Similar to the U.K., the EC said that it was less concerned with console gaming than it was with cloud-based game streaming services, and that if Microsoft were to make Activision games exclusive to its own streaming service \u2014 Game Pass Ultimate \u2014 it could reduce competition in what is still effectively a nascent market. Moreover, limiting access to its own streaming service could also strengthen its existing PC market share.<\/p>\n Microsoft\u2019s proposed remedies, which included the promise to allow all consumers in the European Economic Area (EEA) to stream all current and future Activision games via any cloud-based game streaming service for the next 10 years, were apparently sufficient to garner Microsoft the greenlight.<\/p>\n The EC\u2019s decision follows a couple of months after Japan approved the deal<\/a>, though Europe has made it clear that it intends to implement checks on how Microsoft\u2019s actions impact rival gaming companies in the future. It said that an \u201cindependent trustee\u201d will be in charge of monitoring Microsoft\u2019s implementation of its commitments.<\/p>\n Moreover, with very different outcomes between the EU and the U.K., Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was quick to heap praise on the European Commission, saying that it \u201cconducted an extremely thorough\u201d process. He also said that Activision intends to invest more in the EU moving forward, pointing to the EU\u2019s \u201cfirm but pragmatic approach to gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have deep roots in Europe \u2014 our company was founded in France,\u201d Kotick wrote in a statement issued to TechCrunch. \u201cCandy Crush \u2014 one of our most successful franchises \u2014 was created in Sweden<\/a>. And the senior leadership of our company comes from across the EU, including Austria, Germany, and Sweden. We intend to meaningfully expand our investment and workforce throughout the EU, and we\u2019re excited for the benefits our transaction brings to players in Europe and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.K.\u2019s anti-competition body was always going to be in the spotlight if the EC\u2019s decision differed too greatly from its own, and shortly after the outcome was revealed today, the CMA took to Twitter<\/a> to confirm that it would be standing by its decision, and all the EC has done is allow Microsoft to call all the shots in the cloud gaming market for the next decade.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.K., U.S. and European competition authorities are unanimous that this merger would harm competition in cloud gaming,\u201d the CMA wrote on Twitter. \u201cThe CMA concluded that cloud gaming needs to continue as a free, competitive market to drive innovation and choice in this rapidly evolving sector. Microsoft\u2019s proposals, accepted by the European Commission today, would allow Microsoft to set the terms and conditions for this market for the next 10 years. They would replace a free, open and competitive market with one subject to ongoing regulation of the games Microsoft sells, the platforms to which it sells them, and the conditions of sale. This is one of the reasons the CMA\u2019s independent panel group rejected Microsoft\u2019s proposals and prevented this deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Now that European regulators are mostly out of the way, though, Microsoft and Activision will be channeling all their energies into overturning the U.K.\u2019s decision through the official appeals process.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n
\nEurope greenlights Microsoft\u2019s $68.7B Activision acquisition<\/br>
\n2023-05-15 21:52:25<\/br><\/p>\nThe story so far<\/h2>\n
Remedies<\/h2>\n