Unless there is some last minute surprise, everything indicates that The European Commission is giving Microsoft the green light to buy Activision Blizzard, for which it will pay $69 billion. According to Reuters, three sources familiar with the matter will approve the deal because of Microsoft’s willingness to offer licensing deals to rivals.
The Commission is likely referring, among others, to recent announcements that some Xbox games will be available for Nvidia’s GeForce cloud gaming service. Also to his commitments to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo for the next 10 years.
If all goes according to sources, the European Commission will make a decision on the deal on April 25, and is not expected to ask Microsoft to sell assets to get approval. Of course, in addition to licensing agreements with its rivals, Microsoft may have to take some additional steps to address their concerns. Usually, these measures are usually related to the commitment to maintain certain behaviors once the purchase transaction is closed.
As stated by Microsoft in line with these statements, the company’s commitment «by guaranteeing 100% equal access to Call of Duty to Sony, Steam, Nvidia and others protects the benefits of the agreement for players and developers, as well as increasing competition in the market«. In addition, they have added that they were «committed to offering easily applicable, and effective, solutions that address the concerns of the European Commission«.
That yes, although Microsoft seems that it is going to overcome the barrier in the European Union, still will have to overcome similar lockdowns in the United Kingdom and the United States. In the latter country, FTX denounced the purchase a few months ago, and the case is still pending resolution. At one point, Nvidia joined the anti-buy movement, but then changed its mind once it landed the deal to bring some Xbox titles to PC for its cloud-based gaming platform.
