American Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will file a lawsuit in connection with the planned acquisition of the company Activision Blizzard from the side Microsoft. The reason is the conviction of the four-member panel (who voted three to one against Microsoft) that the deal would allow the American company to crush competition.
Basically it is about the possibility of exclusivity of certain brands and names, as stated by the FTC by name. Call of Dutydespite the fact that the head of the Xbox Phil Spencer repeatedly states that Call of Duty is going to be released on all existing platforms. As a basis for condemnation and a precedent, the commission cites exclusive game releases planned for consoles. Starfield as well as Redfall from bethesdawhich was part of last year’s purchase of the company ZeniMax.
“Microsoft has already proven it can and will hide content from its gaming competitors.” He says Holly Vedova, director of the FTC Competition Authority, “We are committed to preventing Microsoft from gaining control of a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in several dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”
Specifically, according to the FTC, Microsoft can manipulate prices, degrade the quality of games or the player experience of competing consoles and game services, change the terms and conditions of access to Activision Blizzard games, or completely deny content to competitors.
In any case, Microsoft continues to believe that the deal will be closed, and confidently enters the lawsuit. “While we have given the world a chance, we strongly believe in this case and welcome the opportunity to take it to court.” declared Microsoft President Brad Smith, “The allegation that the deal violates competition rules is not true and we believe we will win this case.”
Source :Indian TV
