Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has faced significant pushback from regulators, with the European Commission, UK Competition and Markets Authority, and US Federal Trade Commission all stepping in to potentially block the deal. Well, it seems Microsoft may have some good news coming on at least one of those fronts.
According to a report from Reuters, which has spoken anonymously to three people familiar with the current state of negotiations, Microsoft’s offer to license Call of Duty to other platform holders is likely to address the European Commission’s antitrust concerns, opening the door for the Activision Blizzard deal to be approved in Europe.
Microsoft has attempted to calm fears they’ll lock down Call of Duty once they purchase Acti-Blizz, signing a 10-year deal to bring CoD titles to Nintendo platforms and making their PC titles playable via NVIDIA’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service. Microsoft has also offered Sony a 10-year deal, which they’ve refused to sign. Microsoft’s pitch is that they’ll actually make Call of Duty available to 150 million more players than it is now (and even more than that if Sony relents and signs on the dotted line).
That said, even if the EU rubber stamps the Activision Blizzard deal, Microsoft still has more hurdles to leap. The UK’s CMA has taken a much more skeptical stance than the EU, saying there’s still reason to believe Microsoft will make Call of Duty exclusive. One of the solutions the CMA has offered in order to get the deal passed would involve Microsoft splitting off and selling Call of Duty or other parts of Activision Blizzard. According to Reuters, EU regulators won’t be demanding Microsoft sell off any of Acti-Blizz’s assets in order to get the deal done.
Of course, even if Microsoft can convince the EU and UK, they still have the FTC to deal with, which has launched a full-on lawsuit to block the Acti-Blizz deal. Due to the nature of the American system, the legal battle between Microsoft and the FTC could drag on for years as decisions can be appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court.
The European Commission has until April 25 to come to a decision on the Activision Blizzard deal. We’ll continue to keep you updated on this story as it develops.
