Microsoft could receive an antitrust warning from EU regulators over its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, according to Reuters sources.
The deal, which would see the tech giant absorb Activision Blizzard for a staggering $69 billion, has been opposed by the U.K. and the U.S., where authorities have expressed concern about the deal’s broader impact on the video game industry.
The warning will come in the form of a statement of objections, a document that lays out various concerns the regulator has with the takeover, according to Reuters. Once received by Microsoft, the company may respond in writing and request an oral hearing to present their reasons for these issues. This is expected to happen in the next few weeks.
This comes after a raft of similar concerns were raised by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is trying to block the deal, arguing it would stifle competition. So Microsoft is fighting a battle on two fronts, sandwiched between two large regulators with similar concerns about the deal. That being said, the process is far from over, and if Microsoft can resolve these issues in ongoing negotiations, the deal could still go through.
It’s not all bad news for Microsoft, though. Since the industry-shocking deal got off the ground, countries including Brazil and Saudi Arabia have given the thumbs up and allowed the takeover to go ahead.
Most importantly, the UK CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) reviewed 2,100 emails (after rejecting 2,600 emails containing “abusive content” or “blank” and “unintelligible”) and found that the Sentiment on the deal was largely positive. However, 2,100 emails was hardly representative of the broader Call of Duty community, nor the broader gaming industry, which is likely to be affected by the Microsoft x Activision Blizzard deal.
So the saga continues! Whether Microsoft will be able to adequately fend off the problems identified by the EU remains to be seen, but it’s looking more and more like we won’t see a conclusion to this incident for some time.
How do you feel about this deal so far? It’s been a few months since it was first announced, do you think it will pass? let us know!
