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| The United States is trying to prevent the completion |
The US Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday that it has filed an antitrust lawsuit against software giant Microsoft, challenging its acquisition of game development company Activision Blizzard.
This isn't the first time Microsoft has come under pressure over competition issues. In 1998, the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company. After the lawsuit, the company changed some practices in its Windows business.
In January last year, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion and hopes the deal will close in June 2023.
Microsoft has repeatedly said that it will not completely dominate the game if the deal goes through and has promised to bring the popular Call of Duty game to the rival company's gaming platform.
“We continue to believe that this transaction will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers,” Brad Smith, vice president and chief operating officer of Microsoft, said in a statement to the Federal Trade Commission earlier this week.
In contrast, Holly Vidova, director of the Federal Trade Commission's Office of Competition, said, "Microsoft has shown that it can and will block content from its gaming competitors." and use it to harm competition in the growing gaming market.”
In fact, Microsoft offers exclusive games for its Xbox gaming platform, and last October, Phil Spencer, the company's chief gaming officer, said that while Microsoft offers exclusive games, Sony also has its own set of exclusive privileges. Minecraft on other platforms.
Spencer believes it's important to allow more people, not fewer, access to the company's games, especially as it tries to entice subscribers to its Game Pass service, which provides access to hundreds of titles.
And the Federal Trade Commission confirmed that Microsoft has precedents in this, including: the acquisition of ZeniMax in 2021.
The US Federal Trade Commission said Microsoft made ZeniMax games like Starfield and Redfall exclusive after it told European antitrust authorities it would not block access to titles on rival Xbox platforms.
On Wednesday, Spencer announced that Microsoft had reached an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty games to the company's Japanese gaming platform for the next 10 years.
Smith reportedly offered Sony a 10-year deal that would see future Call of Duty games released on PlayStation at the same time as Xbox.