Microsoft Boss Not Concerned About Possibility Of Activision Blizzard Takeover Block By The FTC

gamerant.com:

Microsoft made waves in the gaming industry last month when the company made the decision to acquire Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion. This led the US Federal Trade Commission to review the acquisition in case it may harm the possibility of competition for the company. Microsoft's executive chairman, Satya Nadella has now spoken out about the review.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Nadella downplayed the possibility of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard takeover being blocked by the FTC, as he stated that the buyout should be looked at in the context of the gaming industry where Microsoft is not the king of the hill. If the buyout is approved by the FTC, Microsoft would sit in third place in the video game industry value hierarchy behind Sony and Tencent.

More Major Gaming Deals in 'Final Stages of Negotiations'

Nadella's main argument was the fact that Microsoft, Sony, and Tencent's market shares range between 10%-20%, which means that the company is far from having a monopoly even after the acquisition takes place. Nadella also went on to state that the company will merely become a bigger player in a highly fragmented market owing to how diverse content creation platforms are.

The FTC's review of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard takeover came about owing to the fact that the company made the move to acquire Bethesda Softworks and its parent company ZeniMax just over a year ago. The commission has shut down acquisitions that it felt were unfair in the past such as Nvidia's attempt to purchase UK-based chip firm Arm for $40 billion last year, and will likely not hesitate to do the same if it finds that the acquisition could harm the possibility of fair competition.

The FTC is yet to make any