Xbox on Charm Offensive to Push $69 Billion Activision Acquisition Through | Push Square
Microsoft is in Brussels today, trying to convince the European Commission that it should be allowed to acquire Activision Blizzard for an eye-watering $69 billion sum. Both the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the United States’ Federal Trade Commission have sought to block the buyout in recent months, so this is considered a pivotal moment for the deal.
As a result, the Redmond firm has gone on a bit of a charm offensive, announcing that it’s signed a ten-year partnership with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty (and, seemingly, other Xbox titles) to the Switch and any subsequent systems the Mario maker may release [Update: To clarify, subsequent reporting has confirmed Microsoft only plans to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms, should the acquisition clear]. It’s also signed a deal with NVidia, who previously opposed the deal, to bring all of Microsoft’s PC releases to GeForce Now. Unsurprisingly, the graphics chip giant is now very much on board with the acquisition.
That puts Sony in the precarious position of being one of two opposing parties remaining, with Google being the other. During a media briefing earlier this evening, Microsoft president Brad Smith held aloft a contract for the Japanese giant along with a pen, and said that it’s ready for its rival to sign. Presumably, the contents of that contract will ensure Call of Duty continues to release on PlayStation for the next ten years, as has previously been reported.
The Xbox maker also spent a little time comparing its position to Sony, pointing out that Microsoft commands just 20 per cent of the console market in Europe, compared to PlayStation’s 80 per cent. It also admitted that Xbox was massively outsold by PlayStation towards the tail-end of
Read more on pushsquare.com
