According to the “Wall Street Journal” report, Microsoft has hinted that it plans to challenge the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block its $ 75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard’s lawsuit. Microsoft is expected to argue that the company is at a disadvantage when it comes to video game development.
Microsoft has been touting its position for months that the acquisition would not threaten competition in the industry because it lags behind rivals in video game consoles and has limited influence in mobile game development. The company also said that with the rise of cloud gaming, the industry is expected to become more competitive in the future.
Microsoft is likely to debate those topics, legal experts say, and also point to the fact that the company pursues vertical acquisitions, meaning it buys a company in its own supply chain rather than an outright acquisition. competitors.
Microsoft President and Vice Chairman Brad Smith said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday that the deal is “fundamentally good for gamers, good for consumers, good for game developers and good for competition.” Favorable. We’re going to have to present the case in court to the judge because it’s a case that I’m very confident in.”
Microsoft has until Thursday to respond to the FTC’s lawsuit, which was filed in the agency’s administrative court on December 8.
The FTC said in its complaint that the deal is illegal because it would give Microsoft the ability to control how consumers get Activision games outside of the Xbox console and subscription service. The FTC said the company could raise the price of the developer’s titles for those who don’t use its hardware to play them, or simply block them from playing them.
Microsoft said it was committed to addressing regulators’ concerns about its planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft said it made a last-minute proposal to make the Call of Duty game available to others through a legally binding consent decree, building on a proposal the company made months ago to keep it open for at least 10 years.
