As reported by various news outlets like Bloomberg and CNET ,the FTC will conduct an investigation of the deal to determine whether the purchase of the publishing giant constitutes unfair competition, according to an anonymous source.
To be clear, it is understood that the investigation will not be carried out by the justice department, who do work with the FTC to handle similar cases. Currently as I am reporting this, Microsoft has declined further comment on the matter when reached out for a statement. Respectively the FTC have also do not comment on the situation at hand either.
The purchase of Activation Blizzard means that Xbox will gain exclusive o
wnership of some of the biggest game franchises to date like Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero and many, many more . The deal is expected to close in Microsoft’s fiscal year of 2023, however, the deal would only be closed if it meets the closing conditions and completion of the regulatory review.
Competition laws are looking to control market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. On the basis of mergers and acquisitions, regulators can prevent deals that are considered to threaten market competition or suggest remedies such as an obligation to divest part of the new business. Reacting to Microsoft’s plans, DFC Intelligence said the following;
“Will this deal go through? Regulators will take a close look and franchises like Call of Duty may not be exclusive to Xbox platforms because of antitrust concerns.”
David Cole, owner of the DFC had said the following;
The big issue is if COD becomes a Microsoft exclusive. Right now, I don’t think [it will]. For one thing, it would be hard to get it past regulators if they want to lock the competition out.” Talking to GamesIndustry.Biz.
Microsoft still have plans to create “some” games for PlayStation following the purchase of the publishers, Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox claims that “it’s not our intent to pull communities away from that platform”.
