European Commission Postpones Microsoft's Decision To Acquire Activision Blizzard

Microsoft's decision to acquire Activision Blizzard has been postponed (photo: Activision)

JAKARTA - The European Commission has extended the deadline for its decision on Microsoft's acquisition of the video game development studio Activision Blizzard worth 69 billion US dollars (Rp986 trillion).

Launching the VGC, in a filing on Thursday 16 March, the EU's competition regulator said it had postponed a temporary deadline for arranging the deal from April 25 to May 22 after Microsoft submitted a solution in a bid to get its approval.

While no details were published, Microsoft recently announced some of its new partnerships with several companies including NVIDIA and Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to new consoles and cloud gaming platforms if the deal is approved.

"We have fulfilled our promise to bring Call of Duty to more gamers in more devices by signing an agreement to take the game to Nintendo consoles and cloud game streaming services offered by Nvidia, Boosteroids and Ubitus," a Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters.

"We are now supporting the promise with a binding commitment to the European Commission, which will ensure that this deal benefits players in the future," he continued.

In early March, Sony submitted a response to this acquisition to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which expressed concern about Microsoft may be able to reduce Call of Duty's performance and quality on PlayStation, which could lead fans to switch to Xbox.

On the other hand, Microsoft has submitted a 10-year agreement for Call of Duty. In its latest response to CMA if Sony accepts the deal, it will give Sony parity on release dates, content, features, improvements, quality, and playback with the Xbox platform. Microsoft is also willing to approve third-party appraisers to oversee the platform's parity