The United States competition authority, the FTC, asked a federal court in San Francisco on Monday to temporarily suspend Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, according to the summary consulted by AFP.
The European Commission last month approved the transaction, which would make the computer giant the world’s third-biggest player in video games, while its British counterpart vetoed it in the name of competition in the cloud gaming market. .
Acquire to better weaken the competition
The FTC had already initiated an administrative proceeding to determine the risks associated with this acquisition, and a hearing is scheduled for early August, but news articles have circulated “suggesting that (Microsoft and Activision) were seriously considering completing the acquisition” to Despite this procedure and the prohibition of the CMA, the British authority, points out the summary of Monday.
“By controlling Activision’s content, Microsoft could and would have an incentive to withhold that content or reduce its quality in a way that weakens competition, including in terms of quality, price, and innovation,” the federal agency says.
Microsoft, for its part, said it “positively welcomes this opportunity” to present its arguments before a judge, according to an official reaction from Brad Smith, the president of the group that owns the Xbox console.
Activision Blizzard has several great video games in its portfolio, from “Call of Duty” to “Candy Crush” to “World of Warcraft”, “Diablo” and “Overwatch”.
“If the transaction goes through, it will be the largest in the history of the video game industry and also in the history of Microsoft,” the FTC said.
Source: BFM TV
