Subj : EU approves Microsofts acquisition of Activision Blizzard, subjec
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Mon May 15 2023 17:30:03

EU approves Microsofts acquisition of Activision Blizzard, subject to certain 
commitments

Date:
Mon, 15 May 2023 16:21:52 +0000

Description:
The European Commission has announced that it has approved Microsofts 
acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

FULL STORY
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The European Commission  part of the executive branch of the European Union  
has approved Microsofts proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. 

In a press release on May 15, the Commission announced that it was satisfied 
with Microsofts commitments to fully address the competition concerns 
identified [in its investigation] and [that the merger] represents a 
significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current 
situation. 

Microsofts acquisition of Activision Blizzard is facing global scrutiny due 
to its potential to create a monopoly within the industry. 

This decision comes on the heels of the UK governments decision to block the 
merger in late April. In contrast to the UK governments Competitions and 
Markets Authority (CMA), the European Commission found that Microsoft would 
not be able to harm rival consoles and rival multi-game subscription services 
[but] that Microsoft could harm competition in the distribution of games via 
cloud game streaming services 

Microsofts acquisition of Activision Blizzard is facing global scrutiny 

In order to allay these concerns, the commission outlined several remedies to 
protect the European cloud gaming industry from a potential Microsoft 
Monopoly. These included free license to consumers in the European Economic 
Area that would allow them to stream, via any cloud game streaming services 
of their choice, all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console 
games for which they have a license. 

In addition, Microsoft must provide a corresponding free license to cloud 
game streaming providers to allow EEA-based gamers to stream any of 
Activision Blizzards PC [or] console games. Both of these remedies are set to 
bind Microsoft for 10 years. Head in the clouds (Image credit: Meta) 

As much as Xbox Game Pass is a great source of value for consumers, the 
European Commission is right to highlight the danger of a potential Microsoft 
monopoly in the industry, especially since the CMA found that Microsoft 
occupies 60-70% of the cloud gaming market share. This does a great deal to 
explain why the European Commissions constraints are so singularly focused on 
cloud gaming. 

These are positive measures for EU citizens and should go a long way to 
protecting consumer interests across Europe. More so than that, however, 
these caveats imposed by the European Commission could, potentially, serve as 
a model with which Microsoft might approach the UK government in an attempt 
to reverse the CMAs ruling. 

The European Commission is right to highlight the danger of a potential 
Microsoft monopoly 

In a strident press release around the time of the CMA ruling, Activision 
Blizzard pledged to work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this 
[decision] on appeal. Perhaps the European Commissions approval will embolden 
Microsofts efforts with regard to the UK. 

On top of this, the Federal Trade Commission in the United States still has 
an ongoing suit against the merger  a state of affairs that both companies 
will have to navigate in the coming months. Though the European Commissions 
decision certainly marks a battle won for Microsoft, its clear that the tech 
giant has yet to win the war. Xbox VP's goal to bring Activision Blizzard 
into a culture of diversity is an uphill battle



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/news/eu-approves-microsofts-acquisition-of-activisio
n-blizzard-subject-to-certain-commitments


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