Microsoft’s Activision acquistion: Nvidia and Google raise concerns

Google and Nvidia Corp., two subsidiaries of Alphabet Inc., have reportedly voiced concerns to the Federal Trade Commission against Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, strengthening the government’s case against the $69 billion acquisition.

According to reports from Bloomberg, Google and Nvidia have both provided the FTC with testimony in preparation for the latter’s upcoming lawsuit, filed against Microsoft in early December 2022. The testimony reportedly supports a crucial FTC allegation that Microsoft can obtain an unfair advantage in the cloud, subscription, and mobile gaming markets with the acquisition.

The alleged concerns from Google and Nvidia would support Sony’s previously expressed opposition in the FTC lawsuit, which was filed in December. With the first hearing slated for August 2nd, the case will soon move on to trials. Regardless of the outcome of the trial, both sides have the right to appeal the judge’s ruling, which basically means that the law suit will drag on until the end of the year and possibly even into 2024.

Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia have already accepted Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but the UK and Europe are also finding it much more challenging to approve the deal. However, following their own inquiries, the European Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority are anticipated to announce their decisions by April.

Sony founds new allies against the alleged threat of monopolization

Since Sony and Microsoft have been engaged in the fierce competition via their separate PlayStation and Xbox platforms for a very long time, it is understandable why Sony has been the deal’s biggest critic from the start.

Sony expressed concern that Activision’s Call of Duty and Overwatch series would become restricted to Xbox, which might lead to many gamers switching to Microsoft’s Xbox in order to access the games. Sony also claimed that competitive equilibrium in the industry will be significantly impacted if Microsoft keeps acquiring huge corporations like Activision Blizzard and Bethesda and converting them into first-party studios.

Microsoft refuted the accusations and countered by offering Sony a 10-year contract for Call of Duty, arguing that making the game exclusive to the Xbox would be a disastrous business decision. Moreover, Microsoft agreed to release future iterations of Activision’s Call of Duty on Valve Corp.’s Steam platform concurrently with their release on Xbox in addition to bringing the game to Nintendo Co.’s gaming platforms.

Currently, Microsoft doesn’t have much of a presence in the mobile gaming industry, but if its acquisition of Activision Blizzard is successful, it will also get a strong foothold in the space with popular mobile titles including Candy Crush, Call of Duty Mobile, Diablo Immortal, and others.

Header: Activision Blizzard