Europe has approved Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition
While the UK was in opposition, the EU has taken a more lenient stance, in regards to the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger. Less than a month after the UK's market regulators blocked Microsoft's buyout of Activision, the European Commission has decided to allow the merger to go through. Europe's regulators found that even if Microsoft were to stop putting Activision's games on Sony's platforms, it would, "not significantly harm competition in the consoles market."
- Even if Microsoft did decide to withdraw Activision's games from the PlayStation, this would not significantly harm competition in the consoles market. Even if Call of Duty is largely played on console, it is less popular in the EEA than in other regions of the world, and is less popular in the EEA within its genre compared to other markets. Therefore, even without being able to offer this specific game, Sony could leverage its size, extensive games catalogue and market position to fend off any attempt to weaken its competitive position.
There is a caveat, though. In order for the deal to go through, Microsoft must license Activision Blizzard's game library to other cloud streaming service competitors, and will be in effect for all regions, not just European markets. The license would be in effect for a minimum of ten years, and would allow owners of Activision Blizzard games to use cloud gaming to stream the games to their platform of choosing.
To address the competition concerns identified by the Commission in the market for the distribution of PC and console games via cloud game streaming services, Microsoft offered the following comprehensive licensing commitments, with a 10-year duration:
- A free license to consumers in the EEA that would allow them to stream, via any cloud game streaming services of their choice, all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games for which they have a license.
- A corresponding free license to cloud game streaming service providers to allow EEA-based gamers to stream any Activision Blizzard's PC and console games.
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