Microsoft announced the closing of the purchase of Activision Blizzard after receiving approval from the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which establishes a new scenario in the video game industry, especially in regarding the distribution of popular games such as Call of Duty, Diablo and Overwatch.

With the announcement of the purchase of the video game developer in January 2022, a legal battle began between Microsoft and Sony, since this other company, which manufactures PlayStation, claimed that there was a risk of monopoly in the event that its main competitor (Xbox) was made with Activision Blizzard.

From the first moment, the Japanese manufacturer urged Microsoft to comply with the contractual agreements if the purchase was finally given the green light after a study of the agreement by international regulators. Then, he also pointed out the need for the tech giant to continue ensuring that Activision Blizzard games were cross-platform.

One of Sony’s main concerns was the future of Call of Duty, one of Activision’s most popular war video games, as it feared that with the acquisition Microsoft would make it exclusive for its platform.

The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, then assured in writing that he intended to “comply with all existing agreements following the acquisition of the Activision Blizzard studio” and that Sony was “an important part” of his industry.

During these months, Microsoft has tried to demonstrate that the purchase of Activision would not harm the video game sector, although some international organizations, such as the European Commission (EC), have tried to prove the opposite.

After the US Justice gave the green light to Microsoft to go ahead with the purchase, in a transaction valued at $69 billion, the EC suggested that it planned to offer Activision Blizzard video games for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members on a regular basis. exclusive.

This, however, was revealed just a few days after Microsoft signed a binding agreement with Sony ensuring that its main concern, Call of Duty, would remain on PlayStation for 10 years.

Although the initial deadline for closing the agreement was July 18, just one day after this announcement, on the 19th of the same month Microsoft and Activision Blizzard agreed to extend the closing of their agreement until October 18.

During this extension, Microsoft hit the key to get the CMA to finally approve the acquisition of Activision with a new financial agreement: it would transfer the cloud gaming rights to Activision Blizzard titles to Ubisoft, a decision that ensured that the rest of the platforms could continue accessing their games.

This is precisely what has caused the United Kingdom regulator to authorize the purchase of Activision by Microsoft this Friday since, with the sale of the transmission rights to the French firm, it is guaranteed that Microsoft cannot have absolute dominance about this market.

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Source: Reuters

(Referential image source: Microsoft, dpa)

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The head of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, considered the acquisition of Nintendo, as revealed by leaked emails within the framework of the investigation being carried out by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.

In these emails, which he exchanged with two Microsoft Marketing executives in August 2020, Spencer agrees with one of his interlocutors that Nintendo is “the main asset” at stake for the technology firm.

“I have had numerous conversations with Nintendo’s LT about closer collaboration and feel that if any American company had a chance with Nintendo, we would probably be in the best position,” the manager writes.

Nintendo’s good economic situation did not facilitate Spencer’s plans, which he does not leave aside and which he sees as a long-term challenge, in which the acquisition of shares in the Japanese firm comes into play to “create opportunities” for a potential merger.

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Source: The Verge

(Reference image source: Unsplash+)

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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 60.3 billion dollars, news that caused discomfort in its main competitor, Sony.

The Japanese company, which is also in charge of manufacturing the main competitor of Microsoft’s console, PlayStation, then considered that if this acquisition were to proceed, it would risk the availability of Activision Blizzard video games and support for its 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, Xbox Game Pass, this agreement is being investigated in different countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Brazil. and UK.

In the latter, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is analyzing all the developer’s purchase documentation, as well as Microsoft’s statements and Sony’s allegations, 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 announced that it plans to launch an in-depth investigation into this agreement soon because Microsoft has not presented the necessary documentation to demonstrate that it will not exercise a monopoly before the competent authorities.

The Xbox manufacturer had a deadline of midnight on November 1st 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.

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.

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Source: VG Chronicle

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Microsoft accused Sony of having prevented the arrival of its cloud gaming subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, to the PlayStation console, a strategy that would be due to the recent purchase of Activision Blizzard by the Redmond company.

Earlier this year, the tech giant reached an agreement to buy video game publisher and developer Activision Blizzard for just over $60.3 billion, a transaction that has been the subject of controversy over the past few months.

It should be remembered that Microsoft manufactures Xbox, a console that appears as direct competition in the market with Sony’s, PlayStation. With the purchase of the developer, Microsoft reported that it would include all its video games created and edited in its Game Pass subscription, and that with them it will enhance its cloud service, Cloud Gaming.

Hence, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard worried the Japanese company, which from the beginning has considered that it could jeopardize the titles available for platforms other than Microsoft.

So much so that, shortly after announcing the closing of the commercial agreement between the two companies, Sony announced that it expected Microsoft to comply with the contractual agreements, which ensured that Activision games were multiplatform.

One of the reasons why Sony has been suspicious of the agreement from the beginning is that the Call Of Duty franchise was left out of its catalog. This despite the fact that the CEO of Microsoft Gaming and head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, promised in writing that the saga could remain “many more years” on PlayStation.

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Source: Vandal

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Tech giant Microsoft has reached an agreement to buy video game publisher and developer Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, they said in a statement.

The transaction will be in cash and Microsoft will pay $95 for each of Activision Blizzard’s shares, which is a 46% premium over the price at which the shares closed on Monday. The company led by Satya Nadella highlighted that after the agreement is finalized it will become the third largest video game company worldwide by revenue, only behind Tencent and Sony.

This agreement far exceeds the purchase of Zynga by Take-Two for 12,700 million, announced last week and which had become the largest acquisition agreement in the video game segment. In 2020, Microsoft also announced the purchase of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, one of the world’s largest private video game developers and publishers, for $7.5 billion.

Activision Blizzard owns the popular video game sagas ‘Call of Duty‘, ‘Warcraft’, ‘Diablo’, ‘Overwatch’ or ‘Candy Crush’. It has 10,000 employees and in 2020 net profits of 2,197 million and a turnover of 8,086 million dollars were recorded.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick will retain his position, although once the deal closes, the company will report directly to Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft’s video game division.

Microsoft hopes to incorporate the Activision catalog into its Game Pass subscription, which recently reached the figure of 25 million subscribers. After finalizing the agreement, the company that owns Xbox will have 30 internal game development studios.

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Source: Xataka

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The state of California, in the United States, expanded its investigation against the video game studio Activision Blizzard for discrimination against its workers, adding more affected temporary employees and accusing the company of obstruction to interfere in the investigation.

The California Department of Housing and Fair Employment is carrying out this process against the study, which became known since July, for discriminating against women who worked for the company.

Among the accusations that have so far been included, the company would not have protected its employees against harassment in the work environment and would have committed sex discrimination in their salaries and other aspects.

Now, according to documents that Axios has had access to, the California department decided to expand the already existing investigation against Activision Blizzard and added to the lawsuit not only permanent employees but also temporary workers.

The agency also accused the video game studio of trying to interfere in the ongoing investigation by hiring the firm WilmerHale, which already advised Amazon in the conflict with its workers in Alabama when they tried to unionize.

This measure “directly interferes” with the California investigation into the alleged discrimination, and the institution also denounces the destruction of documentation by some workers of the company.

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Source: LevelUp

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