
It sounds like Microsoft is getting closer to winning the Activision Blizzard battle in Europe, as Reuters is reporting today that the European Commission is not expected to request that Microsoft sells assets in order to complete the deal.
In other words, the expectation is that the EU regulator will be willing to pass the acquisition following Microsoft's offer of licensing deals to rivals. Notably, Microsoft recently gave 10-year Call of Duty commitments to Sony, Nintendo and Valve, while NVIDIA also received a GeForce Now deal of its own.
Here's a bit of what Microsoft had to say in response to the outlet today:
"[Microsoft is] committed to offering effective and easily enforceable solutions that address the European Commission's concerns."
"Our commitment to grant long term 100% equal access to Call of Duty to Sony, Steam, NVIDIA and others preserves the deal's benefits to gamers and developers and increases competition in the market."
Interestingly, a source at Reuters mentioned that Microsoft may also have to offer behavioural remedies to concerned parties other than Sony in order to secure the EU's approval, noting that "such remedies typically refer to the future conduct of the merged company".
Things seem to be looking up for the Activision Blizzard acquisition in Europe, then, although we'll still need to keep waiting until late April until we find out a verdict. The current EU deadline is set for April 25th, 2023.
What do you make of this? Let us know down in the comments section below.
[source reuters.com]
Comments 60
One down two to go. Will be interesting to hear what these remedies are. I thought the 10 year deal covered that?
The FTC has no case. Let's see what happens with the CMA.
As much as I'm an Xbox fan I still wonder if it's worth all this effort. Would have been much funnier to just have paid for COD exclusivity outright and watch the fanboys implode.
COD on Game Pass day 1 isn't a big deal for me. IF, and that's a big IF, they resurrect Tony Hawk's, then we're talking!
This is why I have yet to preorder Diablo 4, because it will be on gamepass this June
@Kaloudz Seems the stampede has already started.
I'm all for COD, StarCraft would be amazing but that really is a PC game at the end of the day.
Given all the hoops Microsoft has gone through maybe next time they'll just buy the IPs outright.
One step closer to getting Diablo series on Game Pass PC (I'm unapologetically cheap)!
I know this deal is about the money Microsoft will make ( look at king etc) but I really hope they put some of that money into making new Xbox games ( and a few older titles like crash/spyro) and not just good for the shareholders to fill Thier pockets
We all knew it was grandstanding. Funny how the EU didn't care when Sony was busted paying devs not to work with MS...
I like the CoD campaigns. I avoid the multiplayer like the plague. Be nice to play the most recent one on GP.
So what happens if it passes in the EU and the only one that won't pass it is the UK?
Another step closer. I just want the deal to be finalized already. I don’t even like CoD. Just tired of hearing the back and fourth between Xbox and PlayStation. Either approve or deny, but end it soon please.
Poor ponies... LOL
@uptownsoul whichever one is less than $2 Trillion and wants to sell would be my guess. Not like this is the last deal Sony or MS will do, sure they will be smaller ones, but many more deals will happen to strengthen their teams and first party output. Which is a win for both gamers and Sony and MS.
@Snake_V5 not sure what happens but i know what won’t happen and that’s xbox leaving the industry.
@Snake_V5 If both the EU and the US approve the deal the UK would be “forced” to back down even if it didn’t want to, it doesn’t have nearly enough policial clout to stop something like this and it is no longer able to influence EU decision making from the inside. The UK regulators would just lower their objections and maybe ask for some token concessions to save face, small stuff that Microsoft would basically choose themselves as a way to keep a good relationship with the UK government and regulators, or just say they were satisfied with the same commitments Microsoft has made in other jurisdictions.
@EvilSilentFrame I just wanted this to be approved in time for Diablo IV to be on game pass at launch since that game is getting a battle pass and I don’t think full price games should have battle passes and premium cosmetics and micro transactions etc, but there’s no hope of that anymore.
@uptownsoul the thing is take two would have to want to be for sale, and amazon or Apple would need a popular platform for those games to come to and at the moment they don’t have. Which would be a tough investment for them and take two wouldn’t want to sell to a company that has so little infrastructure to push the software. But if it were to happen, i would be fine with it, thats business and there is plenty of players and money in the gaming business so it’s not a surprise many large companies have their eyes on it. I am a hardcore apple fan and would love to see them in gaming in a bigger way than mobile.
Yay, I'm looking forward to less production from more development studios!
@uptownsoul Microsoft has never claimed that there’s anti-competition if they can’t own Activision.
But rest assured, after this goes through there’s absolutely no way that regulators will allow MS to buy any other big publisher as EA, Take-Two or Ubisoft, nothing to that scale; however they will certainly continue to buy studios (not publishers) to boost Xbox Game Studios which has been sitting idle since MS bought Bethesda and ABK.
@uptownsoul Saying that approving the deal will increase competition is not the same that blocking it would be anti-competitive.
@Snake_V5 if the CMA does blocks, MS would likely fight the decision in court. The EU and CMA are likely in communication m, though, I doubt only one of them will move to block the deal on their own.
@IOI they might not be able to buy them outright, but they would be able to buy large voting stakes on any company they see fit. I don’t think it’s an approach at business MS has used much, if at all, but I have not paid that much attention.
It’s one of the things Tencent does, they buy large stakes on things that are either not for sale or too large to buy, only so they can at least get a piece of the cake.
With a voting stake, they could influence things like policies to include games on game pass day one.
@pip_muzz Give me Tony Hawk 3 remastered on Game Pass and I'm all in.
If this news is indeed true, I'm curious to see what concessions Microsoft offered to assuage the EU Regulators, what is covered from ABK's substantial portfolio and for how long.
I'm very much invested in the Xbox ecosystem, but legally binding agreements are very important. I don't want a situation where Microsoft is allowed acquisitions to this size and then be left to their own devices..
Also anything related to improving workplace conditions for the ActiBliz developers? - once Bobby leaves with more money than some countries health care budget.
Microsoft need to get this deal done and finished.
Not just to get ABK, but to get themselves firing on all four cylinders, get some Xbox marketing and advertising going and reveal more big AAA up and coming exclusive games.
Get more general public excitement and momentum going.
Of course we have almost release dates for
Redfall, FM and Starfield but we know those from years ago.
They need to push hard and reveal more and advertise etc to push more consoles and game pass and take market share.
They definitely have the money to go campaign mad if they wish.
@BadAtPickingUsername I agree. I don’t think a full priced game should have battle passes, cosmetic purchases, or micro transitions either. I miss the days when you bought a game, the whole game was there. All the content meant for the game was there at launch. I understand free to play games doing it. I don’t like it but since it’s free, I get why they do it but a full priced game, I want the complete package.
@Tharsman You can't do that, the CMA decision is final. All you can do is appeal and the court cannot overturn the decision so all they will simply state is go look at it again CMA, and it will go back to the same team who refused it in the first place, I think something like over 80% of appeals fail against the CMA, could be higher. But you can't take them to court as it doesn't work like that. This is the UK not USA.
@Kaloudz I'd love it, I'd probably hook up a keyboard and mouse to my Series X for that!!
I expect that the CMA will align with the EU and by end of April BOTH will approve the buyout, without anything needing to be sold off, we already know it will be as MS has abides by their requests for behavioural changes.
The FTC will then be forced to backdown as they have no case anyway. And I'll be seeing COD in Game Pass by July probably! However I also fully expect to see a price rise this year for Game Pass then too.
Microsoft is just throwing tremendous money at huge companies, with established multiplatform big hitters. Sony nurtures studios. The reason they were able to buy Insomniac for the price they did is because Insomniac wouldn't be the studio it is without Sonys investment and trust. Microsoft is using third party studios to help make some of its flagship titles. Sony has support studios. I have Series X Game Pass and appreciate the value, I just feel like Sony put in the work and Microsoft is trying to bully its way to the top.
So disheartening to read so many people cheering on a massive corporation as it continues to monopolize the videogame landscape. You'd think everyone here were business bros rather than gamers, who will surely be the losers in any consolidation scenario, be it Sony or Microsoft. Maybe not immediately - a few more games on game pass! yay! - but certainly down the road.
@Kaloudz i agree with pretty much everything you said but i think this is why a lot have a problem with it. Sony make great games, MS buy great games. Seen stories today, can’t see it happening like, Sony apparently getting ready to buy Take Two. I think if they did they may make games like GTA exclusive, they may think PlayStation’s huge player base advantage will make the loss in Xbox sales worthwhile. I own both machines so i’d be ok but it would be a bit ***** if it became like the footie nowadays. If ya wanna see every Prem game ya need Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime. That’s about £60 a month just for the footie!! That’s why millions go with a Fire Stick. £40 a year an you can watch anything!! What i get would cost me a few hundred a month legit!!
@Kaloudz Yeah I think something like £20, they'll need to make up for some of that 69 billion dollars spent, but won't want to stunt the growth of Game Pass or increase its churn rate. Bring it on I say! I fully believe next year we'll have some huge AAA MS studio games too, I'm hoping for State Of Decay 3 but think that's a 2025 game, but Avowed will be out next year I think.
@uptownsoul Azure runs circles around amazon. But i have no problem if others get into gaming, but if amazon and Apple get into gaming, it hurts Sony more than Microsoft. MS has the money to compete with the Apple and Amazon, Sony does not, if the industry becomes Trillion vs Billion, then Sony and many others are out. But we will have to wait and see. But i agree with you, i don’t think all people would be happy about that.
Microsoft buys ABK...
Sony will cry about losing their exclusive content filled deal, but will sign the new deal. Microsoft won't put Black Ops 2 on Game Pass, honoring Sony's poisoned clause, but the new contract likely has allowance for Game Pass Day 1 in it.
Microsoft will negotiate with Nintendo something like a 'free' xCloud for Switch addition to NSO Expansion Pass, which will fulfil the 10 year deal and prove the regulators wrong.
And Microsoft itself will do similar to with Bethesda, work on putting as much of Activision's back catalogue on Game Pass as possible, while offering to help Blizzard add more than just Overwatch to consoles.
Microsoft fails to buy ABK...
Sony and/or Tencent carve up the corpse, Sony taking Infinity Ward and most of Activision's talent for Call Of Duty development ad infinitum, while Tencent consumes Blizzard entirely.
Anything not of interest to Sony or Tencent will be packaged up and sold to the lowest bidder, and might be seen, eventually, appearing somewhere, but Spyro, Crash and similar?
Don't expect another AAA game.
@jordan1992 Need to change a few words for you in your comment:
Sony is just throwing tremendous money at huge companies, with established multiplatform big hitters (to lock in exclusive content and block games from Xbox and other platforms). Microsoft nurtures studios as well. The reason they were able to buy Bethesda for the price they did is because Bethesda wouldn't be the studio it is without Microsoft's investment and trust for many years before they became multiplatform as evidenced by PC games and Xbox exclusives. Sony is using third party studios to help make some of its flagship titles such as Bloodborne, Final Fantasy and Silent Hill 2. Microsoft also has support studios. I have Playstation Plus Premium and I appreciate the value as I missed the PS4 generation and PS released a lot of great games that I can play. I just feel like Microsoft is laying the groundwork to makes games available to many more players than before and Sony is still bullying competitors and 3rd Party developers to maintain its position at the top.
Hope that helps.
if sony doesnt sign i would give them nothing no games at all....
@uptownsoul i can see that last point, for sure, but i think it hurts Sony still cause it would be even more rich companies with better non console gaming infrastructure.
I stand behind Azure being the leader in that tech at the moment. Not even amazon has that type of infrastructure ready. Not to mention MS continues to invest and sell Azure to others. It’s their secret weapon in being in the game if someday consoles take a mainstream back seat to consoles. Now that don’t apply to us, we would want a console, but in 10 years could the average player prefer cloud and be ok with the trade offs? Thats the question no one knows at the moment. Yeah i was actually agreeing with you saying i agree i wouldn’t be upset with those deals, but i agree with you others might.
@Sol4ris
Its unfortunate that there will be no binding arrangements compelling MS to treat the workers fairer , and when the deal goes through, all those abusive and misogynistic managers and studio heads will be Microsoft employees. Bobby is just the face of the rot MS are buying.
However, you can't legislate for that and thats not what these hearings were for.
For Europe at least, it seems putting MS games on the Geforce streaming service and offering 10 years of COD was enough.
Not my place to judge, but even if that the only concessions given, it still justifies this whole process. They only begrudgingly offered 3 years of COD in the beginning, so this pressure and the process have been worthwhile to help address the balance.
As someone who loves the business, I'm not at all excited to see MS buy into the world of mobile games, which is a very large part of this acquisition. I'm expecting even more of a shift to live services, free game economics and MTX in games, and as a core gamer who just wants to see some great Xbox titles, that disappoints me enormously. I fear that in 10 years time MS will have left behind the 'core gamer' and will be making a mint in the more lucrative and exploitative Mobile space.
I'd be very happy to be wrong!
Never a doubt. I'll use the term everyone uses when the platform they enjoy gets game, "that's business, if you want to play all games own multiple platforms."
@cburg couldn't have said it better myself. it's fun when you're doing it, but when it's done to you it aint so fun. roundabout is fair play.
Removed - flaming/arguing; user is banned
@Titntin
Its unfortunate that there will be no binding arrangements compelling MS to treat the workers fairer , and when the deal goes through, all those abusive and misogynistic managers and studio heads will be Microsoft employees
Just reading that should sober up all Xbox fans from the whole takeover euphoria. And if Microsoft shows no willingness to wholly clean up house then gaming journalists including PX, should come down on them like a ton of bricks and gamers have a role to play too.
I fear that in 10 years time MS will have left behind the 'core gamer' and will be making a mint in the more lucrative and exploitative Mobile space.I'd be very happy to be wrong😀 .
That would make two of us at least 😉.
@Kaloudz I guess what I'm saying is it's more than selfish, it's short-sighted. What happens in boardrooms has an impact on a lot of people and could eventually make gaming a lot worse for everyone. "I love playing games now and I'll sacrifice the future of gaming to save a few bucks" isn't a sustainable worldview, imo. But I get what you're saying about playing big games day one without shelling out cash. Microsoft is counting on this mentality to overshadow the bleak future that's in store for us when just a tiny handful of companies control all of gaming media. We want to PLAY Cyberpunk, not live it.
@Kaloudz i love consolidation! And the best part is, more and more devs and studios pop up to replace others and the indie/double A scene has never been stronger. That's why everyone who screams "monopoly" can miss me with that talk. If they wanna play all these games? Buy an xbox, get a pc, or sit in the corner and don't play any of them. It's no show-friends, it's show-BUSINESS.
@jordan1992 Everything I said makes sense. You make no sense. I suggest you read the internet and you will find articles about the long history between MS and Bethesda. And by the way, I am not talking out of my fanboy mouth. You are and it is obvious with your comment history. How can I be a fanboy if I own four platforms to play games - Xbox, Switch, PS5 and a gaming laptop?
@cburg That is correct, Bethesda and MS have a very storied history and were integral for Bethesda games on consoles early on with Morrowind, Oblivion ect. Not to mention playground games has been MS branded for years and Psychonauts 2 was inherently made better after MS acquired Double Fine. And yeah, looking at his comment history it's pointless to engage with people like that. Nobody wins in that regard lol.
@uptownsoul Do you really think that after regulators have been scrutinizing the ABK deal for over a year and only approving it with several concessions they’ll allow Microsoft to buy another publisher of that size? Of course not.
Any fear that Microsoft will end up monopolizing the games industry is completely baseless.
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
@uptownsoul that’s my point, we don’t know nothing about what 10 years will look like but if it is more cloud adoption, MS is sitting great there. Simply don’t make a contract for CoD with amazon and that game alone makes MS the place to be. Amazon to me will publish and get’s it’s feet wet but Luna is DOA and I ain’t guessing that Azure is at this present moment the leading tech in it’s space, even more so with the closing of Google stadia infrastructure. Can Amazon build something to match or pass it? I don’t know, but today as this writing Azure is the best infrastructure and i ain’t guessing at that. I agree Sony will be more than fine with the console now and going forward. But even they admit that limits them and their games to around 100 million people, Cloud, mobile PC and Console approach is 100X that market size. Hence MS wants all these games to be in those places and truthfully why shouldn’t they. They have built infrastructure to support that. Sony bought on live service and it is a trash streaming service. So much so the fans are begging for a different way to play ps3 games and i ain’t guessing at that either.
@J_Mo_Money I'm afraid I don't see the logic here. Decent AA games or just AA games in general are quite few and far between, where once the scene was dominated by fantastic mid-tier games. When companies consolidate under giant corporate umbrellas, fewer risks are taken on non-tentpole IPs. Just look at the movie industry and the MCU-ification of American cinema. And the indie scene is flourishing, yes, and I would argue that it DOES have something to do with corporate consolidation but not for the reason you do. The AAA scene has grown increasingly homogenized and bland, so gamers are more and more seeking out unique experiences that large studios so rarely offer these days. That's my take, anyway.
@uptownsoul https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-named-a-leader-in-2022-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-cloud-infrastructure-and-platform-services/
Would you like me to send more or does this suffice as better than a guess?
@uptownsoul i can’t assume that cause take two isn’t for sale and they have said they plan to expand not sell, what i can assume is we are months away from the 69 Billion dollar deal going through giving MS one of the two largest cash cows in gaming in COD and Candy Crush. I sent you the link to Gartner magic as they are the only opinion that really matters but there is more out there and you knew that and had me do your research for you.
@uptownsoul oh i mean anyone that gets GTA exclusive is a winner. For sure, but it’s just too big to be on one platform, much like COD. COD is to big to stay on Xbox only, it’s smart of microsoft to put it in as many places as possible cause it will sell and be played. But yes i fully agree GTA exclusive is a killer move, but it will never happen and these court finding during the ABK sale kind of show that. Take two just needs to get me my RDR2 next gen.
@uptownsoul there’s nothing in that article that say’s azure isn’t ahead and MS is bringing gaming to browsers, Xcloud, and has great support for xbox and PC, my point was and still is Azure is a leader in that area, Sony is FAR from it and will never have that type of support. But MS knows Amazon and Apple have competing infrastructure, and said going forward they seem them as just as big of competitors as sony if not more and people took that out of context. But MS knows what a company the Size of Amazon and Apple can do. The difference is Amazon launched Luna and it’s Dead, google launched Stadia and it’s dead and it’s cause of the lack of games more than infrastructure. I don’t see them as a threat as long as Sony and MS continue to buy up the worlds best developers. What would be left for someone like an Amazon to have the games needed? Well as you said a GTA, and i think we both know that is at a 2% chance of happening anytime in the next 10-12 years, hell GTA 6 might be a 10 year game if GTA5 showed us anything HAHA
@nofriendo One company is monopolizing the high end video game console market and it isnt microsoft. With a 66-33 lead Sony uses their monopolistic position for sweetheart exclusivity deals, poisoning the landscape.
This deal will bring the two consoles closer to parity which is greatly needed. As a gamer if you aren't applauding this, you're incredibly shortsighted.
@Jenkinss Yeah, I still don't see it. One company is behaving in a way that is proven to be bad for consumers, so if another company starts doing it, it's wonderful news. Just doesn't make sense. In the context of the console wars, another thing that is horrible for everybody but the giant corporations trying to gobble up more and more resources and market share, parity across monopolies seems like a kind of fairness. But again, the gamers lose. The ecosystem loses. Maybe not in the short term, but definitely in the long term. It's not opinion, there's precedent across almost every industry.
@nofriendo none of that made sense. One company has 70% market share. You calling the company with 30% market share a monopoly is laughable. This acquisition is necessary for competition. Gamers will benefit due to increased competition. The idea that protecting Sonys monopolistic stranglehold will benefit gamers is absurd. Theres absolutely precedent in every industry that competition is necessary.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...