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.
K. Tovar
Source: Reuters
(Referential image source: Microsoft, dpa)
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