EU approves Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, subject to certain “commitments”
The European Commission – part of the executive branch of the European Union – has approved Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In a press release on May 15, the Commission announced that it was satisfied with Microsoft’s “commitments to fully address the competition concerns identified [in its investigation] and [that the merger] represents a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current situation.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is facing global scrutiny due to its potential to create a monopoly within the industry.
This decision comes on the heels of the UK government’s decision to block the merger in late April. In contrast to the UK government’s Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), the European Commission found that “Microsoft would not be able to harm rival consoles and rival multi-game subscription services… [but] that Microsoft could harm competition in the distribution of games via cloud game streaming services”
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is facing global scrutiny
In order to allay these concerns, the commission outlined several “remedies” to protect the European cloud gaming industry from a potential Microsoft Monopoly. These included “free license to consumers in the European Economic Area 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.”
In addition, Microsoft must provide “a corresponding free license to cloud game streaming providers to allow EEA-based gamers to stream any of Activision Blizzard’s PC [or] console games.” Both of these “remedies” are set to bind Microsoft for 10 years.
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