FTC sues Microsoft to block the purchase of Activision and that ‘Call of Duty’ is not used to attract competitive players
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) confirmed the rumors Y filed a lawsuit against Microsoft for stop acquisition from Activision Blizzard. The report of NYT notes that it is one of the most aggressive actions taken by federal regulators in decades.
The FTC mentions in its lawsuit that the settlement would hurt consumers because Microsoft could use hit games like ‘Call of Duty’ to attract players from rival companies. The commissioners voted three to one to approve the filing of the lawsuit.
Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Office of Competition, mentioned in a statement that they seek to prevent Microsoft from harming competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets:
Microsoft has already shown that it can withhold content from its gaming rivals and it will
For his part, Brad Smithvice president and president of Microsoft commented to The Verge in a release that are found committed to addressing competition concernseven offering concessions to provide the confidence of regulators:
We have been committed from day one to addressing competition concerns, including by offering proposed concessions to the FTC earlier this week. While we believed in giving peace a chance, we have full confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court.
The information is not a surprise as such, since the end of November mentioned that the FTC was preparing a lawsuit for monopolistic practices for the purchase of Activision, while another report mentioned that Microsoft itself was already ready to legally confront to the regulator if it decided to put a stop to the purchase.
In this same week Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox division mentioned that they promise wear ‘Call of Duty’ to Nintendo Switch and to Nintendo consoles for at least 10 years, in the case of completing the purchase of Activision.
Gabe Newell himself, president and co-founder of Steam, mentioned that Xbox did not have to promise to bring the franchise to their platform for 10 years, since they have always trusted their intentions and believe that Microsoft has all the motivation to bring the game to the platforms that are necessary.
Finally, it was the same Microsoft that confirmed that yes they offered Sony the 10-year contract for ‘Call of Duty’ to continue coming out on PlayStation, after Sony expressed its concern with the purchase to regulators.
Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard reached out to his employees after the FTC lawsuit, according to Stephen Totilo:
Bobby Kotick message to Activision Blizzard employees:
“This sounds alarming, so I want to reinforce my confidence that this deal will close.”
“We believe these arguments will win despite a regulatory environment focused on ideology and misconceptions about the tech industry” https://t.co/KIvIiWBMRH
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) December 8, 2022
“This sounds alarming, so I want to reinforce my confidence that this deal will close.”
“We believe these arguments will win despite a regulatory environment focused on ideology and misconceptions about the tech industry”
Without a doubt, in the next few hours, the case that he paints for one of the biggest scandals of the rest of the year will continue.
