The FTC Trying To Stop Microsoft's Acquisition Of Activision Blizzard

The FTC is trying to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision (photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is trying to block the road against Microsoft's acquisition of game developer Call of Duty, Activision Blizzard for being deemed to be too pressing its competitors.

In a statement written on the official FTC website, the Federal Trade Commission said the acquisition would allow Microsoft to put pressure on competitors to its Xbox game consoles and rapidly growing subscription content as well as the cloud-game business.

Microsoft has shown that it can and will hold back content from its game competitors. Today we are trying to stop Microsoft from gaining control over its leading independent game studio and use it to undermine competition in various dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets, "said Mikha Vedova, Director of the FTC Competition Bureau.

#BREAKING: FTC seeks to block Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc.: https://t.co/ukewjn6MUX /1

— FTC (@FTC) December 8, 2022

Microsoft Xbox Series S and Series X are one of only two types of high-performance video game consoles. Importantly, Microsoft also offers a leading video game content subscription service called Xbox Game Pass, as well as a state-of-the-art cloud video game streaming service, according to the complaint.

Activision is one of the top video game developers in the world that makes and publishes high-quality video games for a variety of devices. Activision has created some of the most iconic and popular game titles and has millions of monthly active players worldwide including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch.

According to the FTC, if the acquisition is successful, Microsoft will have the means and motives to hurt competition by manipulating Activision prices, lowering game quality or Activision's players experience on rival consoles and gaming services, changing access terms and time to Activision content, or withholding content from all competitors, thereby harming consumers.

With this acquisition being made, Microsoft will make the game Call of Duty an exclusive game on its platform. Because of this, Sony finally objected because he felt he would be disadvantaged and the game would not work optimally there.

However, Microsoft President Brad Smith has confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that they are offering Sony a 10-year Call of Duty deal. This means that Microsoft will maintain the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation for at least a decade.