FROM microsoft announced the acquisition ActivisionBlizzard The deal, worth just under $69 billion, was on everyone’s lips. Not only because of the size of the companies involved and the amount of money, but also because of the fate Call of Duty and other intellectual property of the studio. But regulatory oversight has also been the subject of constant scrutiny and debate, and rightly so; and despite growing pressure in the US and Europe, Residents of Redmond hope that everything will be resolved safely..
Satya NadellaMicrosoft CEO was upbeat in a recent interview with Bloomberg. “Of course, any acquisition of this size will be subject to scrutiny, but we are very, very confident that we can handle it,” he said.
The chief executive also took the opportunity to comment on those who say the Activision Blizzard purchase threatens competition. According to Nadella, Microsoft today “fourth or fifth largest company” in the video game industry in terms of revenue, and that it will not come out on top after this acquisition.
He also took the opportunity to launch a dart against Sony, which the executive says is number 1 in the market. The CEO of parent company Xbox said the Japanese, who have been publicly critical of the deal and its possible implications for the PlayStation, have made several purchases this year. “If it’s for competition, let’s compete,” he said.
Microsoft is confident in the approval of the purchase of Activision Blizzard
Last February, weeks after the Activision Blizzard acquisition was announced, Satya Nadella had already used similar arguments to justify why his approval wouldn’t harm competitors. He said at the time that the market was very fragmented and that, even with a closed buy, will still generate less revenue than Tencent and Sony.
“Even after this acquisition, we will be third with a relatively small market share. […]. Yes, we will be a great player, but in a highly fragmented space.”
The new announcements by the Microsoft CEO are no coincidence. Last week, the UK Competition and Markets Authority announced a further investigation into the deal. He fears that the purchase of Activision Blizzard will lead to anti-competitive actions. And what happens on British soil could affect regulatory scrutiny in other important markets such as the European Union and the United States.
The industry’s greatest concern is the possibility that franchises such as Call of Duty become an Xbox exclusive. Microsoft says it’s not their intention, which was mentioned several times by Phil Spencer. However, from Sony they are not too sure. A few days ago, Jim Ryan, CEO of PlayStation, assured that Redmond’s proposal to keep the popular shooter on his platform “is inappropriate for many reasons.”
Source: Hiper Textual
