EU regulator delays decision on Microsoft’s Activision deal after remedies offered
The European Commission has extended the deadline for its decision on Microsoft‘s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In a filing on Thursday, the EU competition regulator said it had pushed back its provisional deadline to rule on the deal from April 25 to May 22 after Microsoft submitted remedies in a bid to gain its approval.
While details of the remedies offered weren’t made public, Microsoft has recently announced several partnerships to bring Call of Duty to new console and cloud gaming platforms should the deal be approved.
“We have stood behind our promise to bring Call of Duty to more gamers on more devices by entering into agreements to bring the game to the Nintendo console and cloud game streaming services offered by Nvidia, Boosteroid, and Ubitus,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters.
“We are now backing up that promise with binding commitments to the European Commission, which will ensure that this deal benefits gamers into the future.”
The EU will now seek feedback from rivals and customers before ruling on the merger.
Reuters previously reported that the European Commission was unlikely to demand asset sales as part of its approval process for the deal.
Three people said to be familiar with the matter claimed the Xbox maker’s willingness to offer game licensing deals to rivals was likely to address EU antitrust concerns.
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