The European antitrust authorities have extended the deadline for a decision on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft Corporation. This will be reported Reuters with reference to the statement of the European Commission.
Image source: activivisionblizzard.com
The decision to approve or prohibit the transaction will be made no later than April 25. Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s largest game publishers, in January last year. The $69 billion deal should help the company compete more effectively with other gaming giants like China’s Tencent and Japan’s Sony.
The initiative has met with fierce resistance from regulators. The EU said that as a result of the deal, the quality of the games could deteriorate and prices for them could rise. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has expressed concern it could hurt gamers: if Call of Duty games are only released for Xbox, then we should expect it “rising prices, reduced assortment, reduced quality, worse service and slowed innovation”. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit demanding that the deal be blocked.
At the same time, the acquisition has not raised any serious objections from regulators in China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Chile.
Add Comment