Nov 24, 2022 15:00:00

It is reported that the authorities are likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to prevent Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard on a scale of 9.6 trillion yen

From around January 18, 2022, Microsoft

has been offering acquisitions to Activision Blizzard, which handles games such as 'Overwatch' and 'Call of Duty'. It was reported that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is investigating this acquisition, which could become a market monopoly for major companies, is likely to soon file an antitrust lawsuit aimed at blocking the acquisition.

Feds likely to challenge Microsoft's $69 billion Activision takeover - POLITICO
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/23/exclusive-feds-likely-to-challenge-microsofts-69-billion-activision-takeover-00070787

FTC likely to file lawsuit to block Microsoft bid for Activision - Politico | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/ftc-likely-file-lawsuit-block-microsofts-69-bln-bid-activision-politico-2022-11-23/

According to political news site Politico, officials said that the FTC is preparing a lawsuit to challenge Microsoft's acquisition of about $ 69 billion (about 9.6 trillion yen). The FTC has yet to finalize the complaint and has not spoken to lawyers from either company, according to people familiar with the matter, but it has testimony from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick. It is said that most of the important work such as recording has been completed, and it is possible that the lawsuit will be filed as early as December 2022.

Activision Blizzard owns a number of popular game development companies, and if Microsoft refuses to provide games to competitors, there are concerns that competition in the subscription service and game console markets will be impaired.

In particular, Sony, the developer of 'PlayStation', which competes with Microsoft's game console 'Xbox', said, 'This transaction not only hurts Sony's competitiveness, but also reduces the choice of games for consumers and releases games to developers. There will be no choice of where to do it, ”he complained.

However, Microsoft responded, ``While Sony says it has concerns about the larger Call of Duty title, we have repeatedly promised to make the title available on PlayStation. is not currently offered in any subscription service, and adding it to Xbox's service in the future will not harm Sony.'

The FTC's concerns are not limited to Call of Duty, and it seems that Microsoft is investigating the possibility of strengthening the game business by utilizing unannounced titles in the future.

According to people familiar with the deal, Google is also opposed to the deal, albeit to varying degrees. Google said, 'Microsoft is deliberately undermining the quality of the Game Pass it provides for Chrome, and owning Activision Blizzard further incentivizes that, ultimately tipping Microsoft's hardware sales and leaving Google out of the game.' I will leave,' he claims.

A lawsuit would be the FTC's biggest move yet to curb the power of the world's largest tech company, Politico wrote. In 1998, Microsoft filed a large-scale lawsuit against the FTC regarding the joint sales of OS and browser, but as a result, a settlement was established on favorable terms for Microsoft. For this reason, Politico said, 'I think it will be a big black star for Microsoft, which has established a position like a white horse knight in antitrust law issues in the technical field.'