Suitable for major lawsuitat the end of which we’ll find out if Microsoft gets permission in the US to buy Activision Blizzard at a record price. $68.7 billion. Otherwise, he risks abandoning the deal.
Lawyers for Microsoft, Activision Blizzard and the Federal Trade Commission seem to be in for an uphill battle. Xbox Owner and Call of Duty Publisher Face US Authorities Concerns Those in New Document they consider the exclusivity of the Starfield game sufficient evidence to block the acquisition.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) indicates that Microsoft releases Bethesda and ZeniMax games exclusively on their platforms. In particular, the upcoming Starfield from Bethesda Game Studios is mentioned, which will not be available on the PlayStation 5. Meanwhile, before the acquisition by Microsoft, the ambitious space RPG from the creators of Skyrim was also supposed to come to PS5.
According to the FTC, Microsoft’s concerns that players who can’t access Activision Blizzard content could upset the situation were very important to them, but those same concerns didn’t stop it from ruling against ZeniMax and Bethesda.. Due to similar concerns, Microsoft previously offered Sony a contract that would guarantee that Call of Duty would be published on PlayStation consoles for 10 years. But Sony rejected such a contract. A similar deal for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard games available in the cloud was signed by the company with Nvidia for GeForce Now. Nintendo and smaller cloud gaming companies also have a contract. The first games from Xbox Game Studios have already begun to appear on GeForce Now and other cloud services, including Gears 5, Grounded or the Age of Empires series.
According to some reports, Microsoft, to put it mildly, is working in its boots, because it has committed to buy Activision Blizzard before 07/18/2023.. However, if a federal court grants an injunction and tentatively blocks the deal, there will be a series of other trials due to begin on 02/08/2023, which is the same date that the appeal process will begin. in the UK following a decision by the Competition and Markets Authority, which also blocked the merger.
That is why today and in the coming days, not only lawyers from all sides, but also Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Xbox boss Phil Spencer and a number of other leaders, including Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. He will also testify via video link. Jim Ryan. The head of Sony will discuss competition in the market.
Source :Indian TV
