• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Microsoft's Activision-Blizzard Acquisition Hits UK and EU Regulatory Hurdles

btarunr

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
47,884 (7.38/day)
Location
Dublin, Ireland
System Specs
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite V2
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 16GB DDR4-3200
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 4070 Ti EX
Storage Samsung 990 1TB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Microsoft's USD $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard is running into hurdles with competition regulators in both the UK and the EU, with both Brussels and London hinting at a thorough investigation into the impact the acquisition will have on competition in their respective markets. Microsoft is already a game publisher under Microsoft Games Studio, and makes at least two leading gaming platforms—the Xbox and Windows PC; whereas Activision-Blizzard own a constellation of dozens of game developers, and a mountain of IP over some of the most valuable game franchises of all time.

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority has hinted that the acquisition warrants a "second-phase investigation" since it has concerns that the deal would "result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom." Over in Brussels, the EU market regulators, too, are taking a closer look at what the deal could entail for European consumers. Sony Computer Entertainment is particularly unhappy with the acquisition, and is the primary source of opposition to the deal that's invoked by regulators. Sony fears that with this acquisition, Microsoft will be in a position to deny popular game franchises such as "Call of Duty" to the PlayStation platform, and will have too much control over whether Sony can deliver an experience comparable or better than that of the Xbox.



Many Thanks to DeathtoGnomes for the tip.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
 
I can't understand why Microsoft is allowed to buy more companies? In the end it will become like a black hole that will suck everything and that will be the end...
 
I understand where the UK and EU are coming from. MS has a bad habit of monopolistic practices. I'm not saying they are a monopoly in the OS department though. There is always Linux but for the vast majority Linux has a very small adoption rate outside of servers.
 
I hope the deal goes through. Aquisitions of of game studios by Microsoft in recent years have had pretty positive outcomes overall. Out of all the large publishers, I think Microsoft is the most customer centric. They are also in a position where they are able to breathe new life in some of the IP that Acti-Blizz have shelved in favour of immediate profits.
 
Xeanoa said:
I hope the deal goes through. Aquisitions of of game studios by Microsoft in recent years have had pretty positive outcomes overall. Out of all the large publishers, I think Microsoft is the most customer centric. They are also in a position where they are able to breathe new life in some of the IP that Acti-Blizz have shelved in favour of immediate profits.
Click to expand...
There are days, like today, when I read comments like this and am so taken aback that I stop for a brief moment to wonder: "One of us has a firm grasp on things and the other is so far out of touch with reality that we come across as hilariously delusional, but which is which?"... Very brief moment indeed...
 
Last edited:
Xeanoa said:
I hope the deal goes through. Aquisitions of of game studios by Microsoft in recent years have had pretty positive outcomes overall. Out of all the large publishers, I think Microsoft is the most customer centric. They are also in a position where they are able to breathe new life in some of the IP that Acti-Blizz have shelved in favour of immediate profits.
Click to expand...
The only thing that will breathe life into AB is n fresh faces. M$ does do better with games than some other publishers.

lexluthermiester said:
There are days, like today, when I read comments like this and am so taken aback that I stop for a brief moment to wonder: "One of us is has firm grasp on things and the other is so far out of touch with reality that we come across as hilariously delusional, but which is which?"... Very brief moment indeed...
Click to expand...
The who part is really up in the air. :p
 
Almost $70 billion!!! Really?!?!?
 
Sony will never be able to provide a comparable offering as long as they stick to their puritanical censorship values they've enacted in the late PS4/current PS5 era that's caused a number of game makers to shift to Xbox, PC, or even Nintendo, or release their games without pointless censorship on those platforms while Sony gets the sterilized version, even if it's just word changes.
 
mechtech said:
Almost $70 billion!!! Really?!?!?
Click to expand...

Activision Blizzard is a very profitable company but 60 billion USD is more of a fair price imo.
 
Makes sense they'll make it difficult for Microsoft especially given their history.
 
S73fan said:
I can't understand why Microsoft is allowed to buy more companies? In the end it will become like a black hole that will suck everything and that will be the end...
Click to expand...
Do you prefer Overlord Bezos buying it?

This dude had warned ya about capitalism:

1663339915324.png


Robin Seina said:
So the Sony is objecting to the practise which they used themselves... Clever, really clever...
Click to expand...
Huh? Sony was buying small guys and founding own studios that trounce competitors.

Microsoft went "why don't I buy the biggest juggernaut of the gaming world".

How could you seriously refer to that as the same practice?

64K said:
Activision Blizzard is a very profitable company but 60 billion USD is more of a fair price imo.
Click to expand...
If Minecraft was worth 4+ billion, AB is well worth 60.
 
The same job. Big corporations don't have to get bigger. I don't particularly like your grandfather ;)
 
lexluthermiester said:
There are days, like today, when I read comments like this and am so taken aback that I stop for a brief moment to wonder: "One of us has a firm grasp on things and the other is so far out of touch with reality that we come across as hilariously delusional, but which is which?"... Very brief moment indeed...
Click to expand...
Tbh, it’s not like activision/blizzard by itself is a wonderful company with the interests of gamers at their heart. the worst that could happen is that they keep the exact same behaviour
 
lexluthermiester said:
Your point would be what?
Click to expand...
A shit company is looking to buy another shit company, which might change nothing in the grand scheme of things besides a few more exclusive for Microsoft. Or maybe Phil Spencer is not that shitty, and blizzard might finally care about making games that are fun, and get out of the losing streak that they’ve been stuck in for a while. The current status quo is not ideal, and that might be why such a large company is looking to get acquired (even EA is looking to get acquired or merged with another company)
 
medi01 said:
Huh? Sony was buying small guys and founding own studios that trounce competitors.

Microsoft went "why don't I buy the biggest juggernaut of the gaming world".

How could you seriously refer to that as the same practice?
Click to expand...

I was talking about Sony fearing exclusivities MS would gain if the transaction went through smoothly. Sony hoards many trademarks for themselves and they get irritated when MS buys whole publishing house to have more exclusive brands himself?
 
dyonoctis said:
Tbh, it’s not like activision/blizzard by itself is a wonderful company with the interests of gamers at their heart. the worst that could happen is that they keep the exact same behaviour
Click to expand...

As they would never act like assholes and do what they do to drive the price down so some one would buy them would they ?. ;)
 
64K said:
I understand where the UK and EU are coming from. MS has a bad habit of monopolistic practices. I'm not saying they are a monopoly in the OS department though. There is always Linux but for the vast majority Linux has a very small adoption rate outside of servers.
Click to expand...
Not only do they have monopoly, but they also buy our politicians and media here in EU. They gave 300 millions to media outlets like Le Monde and al in France.
 
PapaTaipei said:
Not only do they have monopoly, but they also buy our politicians and media here in EU. They gave 300 millions to media outlets like Le Monde and al in France.
Click to expand...
What monopoly? On their own platform? It depends solely on their own will, which game/publisher will they permit on their own console. Also MS has a tradition of releasing titles on PC and XBOX both (very often at the same), a thing which cannot be said about Sony (which only started doing so recently and only with select titles).
Also do not forget about other big publishers: Ubisoft, EA, Take2, Sega, THQ Nordic, Capcom... Does aquisition of Activision-Blizzard constitutes a monopoly of market, when all those remain? IMHO, hardly.

Edit: changed word "great" for "big", for better understanding
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top