Feds might investigate Microsoft takeover of Activision

[Kane99]

Or purchase as they call it. The FTC might file an antitrust lawsuit to stop the $69 billion takeover of Activision/Blizzard. From what I see, the FTC is worried that Microsoft would get an unfair boost in the video game market. You can read more on this story here: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/23/exclusive-feds-likely-to-challenge-microsofts-69-billion-activision-takeover-00070787

Sony is opposed to this deal as they are worried it will result in the exclusivity of these games going to Xbox. But, if Xbox is telling the truth that they will support Sony by releasing COD and other games on their platforms yet. I hope they aren't lying about that. 

In turn, Sony is worried they will create a monopoly, which I totally understand. And Xbox is like, nah we won't do that, but have the power to do it at any time if they desire. So I think Sony is worried the deal will go through and Microsoft will go back on their statement and will keep the games exclusive to Xbox. 

[Empire]

This probably feels like a bombshell to anyone outside of the M&A space. This acquisition which is fairly unprecedented in size and scope was never a sure fire guarantee, and the high level of scrutiny and criticism it has attracted from regulatory and government bodies should really be unsurprising.

[Kane99]

12 hours ago, Empire said:

This probably feels like a bombshell to anyone outside of the M&A space. This acquisition which is fairly unprecedented in size and scope was never a sure fire guarantee, and the high level of scrutiny and criticism it has attracted from regulatory and government bodies should really be unsurprising.

It's a lot of money and many are worried that Microsoft are creating a monopoly. Which was something many other companies were worried about with Microsoft in the past. So it's kinda MS repeating that. 

I think this sale will go through, so long as MS doesn't make the games in this deal exclusive to xbox, because if so, Sony will probably keep fighting this. 

[Techno]

From what I understand, it less likely a lawsuit to completely block the deal but more of a deal to get concessions in place. Which is a good thing for consumers all around.

[Reality vs Adventure]

FTC Chair Lina Khan is doing a great job so far and her term ends in late 2024. Her team has already blocked the acquisition of the largest attempted chip merger of U.S. Nvidia trying to buy UK chip supplier Arm Ltd for $40 billion. The FTC also blocked Meta's acquisition of VR developer Within Unlimited. But it looks like the UK beat the USA to the punch because the UK Competition and Markets Authority has already opened up an investigation into the acquisition of Microsoft and Activision for unfair competition in the UK. So we will see if the FTC in the USA has as big of balls as the CMA in the UK. As a gamer, I hope this transaction gets destroyed because Microsoft is too big and they have already had antitrust lawsuits and this acquisition is literally a slap in the face of fair competition. And it's not just buying up Activision, but also involves Google's complaint about hardware sales, and who knows what other loops Microsoft can take advantage of owning most of computer hardware and service. Even if Microsoft makes a 10 year contract to not make Call of Duty exclusive, what happens after 10 years? We will be here again. And if the wrong people are lobbied and corrupt the FTC, then we enter a new corporate consolidation phase eliminating fair competition. That is exactly how vulnerable the USA is these days, sad to say. But we currently are in safe hands looking out for the best interests of consumers till 2024. 

[killamch89]

It's not just the US who are investigating the Microsoft Activision deal - Europe is already looking into this deal as well. Remember that it was Europe that stopped Nvidia from acquiring Qualcomm.

[Justin11]

Microsoft has the rights to purchase which ever company they want as long as they are doing it legally.

It would be unfair if they used Influence to unlawfully get ownership of Activision.

[killamch89]

If the feds were interested in doing something, they could've done it before the deal actually went through instead of after because they're not going to accomplish much at this point in time.

[Shortie]

I honestly do not see Microsoft taking over Activision/Blizzard with the trust that they will not make games exclusive and other platforms lose out. Phil Spencer especially is all for making gaming for everyone and enabling everyone to play games on their console of choice. This would go against what he stands for within the company both for Xbox and Microsoft and would land him with a lot of trust issues. Seems weird that they would wait until the deal has gone through and now decide to investigate.