According to Bloomberg, Microsoft and Activision had a blizzard This week Must file with UK Antitrust Proposals for acquisitionsCurrently under review by all major regulatory bodies.
In a face-to-face meeting in London on Monday, Microsoft’s lawyers consulted privately with those responsible for the CMA and proposed a series of measures aimed at preventing critical activity, however, we don’t think the commission could comply with what it asked.
Indeed, in early February, the UK antitrust agency tentatively rejected Activision’s acquisition of Blizzard, outlining potential conditions for a green light on structural intent such as the sale of the Call of Duty brand or the separation of Activision and Blizzard. An option, but not ruled out Behavioral measures – These are the ones Microsoft has to rely on.
Later, Microsoft president Brad Smith defined Redmond House as “impossible and unrealistic” to exclude Call of Duty from the acquisition due to the overwhelming interest in the proposals. At the last meeting.
Behind-the-scenes rumors are that Microsoft will offer Sony a 10-year deal on Call of Duty, and the CMA is concerned that this will actually come to pass. As a result, Redmond offered to pay all expenses to a third-party company to oversee the Call of Duty brand for a decade. Obviously, the CMA will accept the deal.
Meanwhile, on the US front, the FTC has decided that Sony must provide confidential data requested by Microsoft in the Activision case, specifically all contracts the Japanese company has made since 2019 to guarantee exclusive content on PlayStation.
