Microsoft tries to pre-empt the regulators by guaranteeing COD will stay on PlayStation
Microsoft's takeover of Activision Blizzard is not yet a done deal, and one hurdle it has to clear is an antitrust investigation: the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will be having a good kick of the tyres on what would be the biggest acquisition in the company's history. The FTC has under the Biden administration promised to toughen-up on its policing of such deals, and most notably intervened in Nvidia's ill-fated attempt to acquire Arm.
If there's one thing that the bean-counters at Redmond don't like, it's regulators. So in an unsurprising move, Microsoft has pre-empted many of the big questions raised by the acquisition and given the kinds of assurances that government will want to hear. The snappily titled blogpost Adapting ahead of regulation: A principled approach to app stores by president and vice chair Brad Smith outlines Microsoft's commitments in light of increasing regulatory concern around app stores, access, and payments.
The commitments are split into four key areas and, of course, take some lessons from Epic's recent battle against Apple, most notably when it comes to payment methods. Here's the lot:
The post also addresses two of the most prominent questions about the proposed acquisition.
«First, some commentators have asked whether we will continue to make popular content like Activision’s Call of Duty available on competing platforms like Sony’s PlayStation. The obvious concern is that Microsoft could make this title available exclusively on the Xbox console, undermining opportunities for Sony PlayStation users.
»To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision. And
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