Microsoft’s Activision deal receives another major setback in their fight to get the acquisition approved. According to Reuters, The European Commission will allegedly give the tech giant statement of objections to the $68.7 billion deal, which is reported to be sent in the coming weeks according to their sources. The Activision deal has been under its second phase of investigations by the EU regulator since November 2022 and is set to reach a decision by April 11, 2023.
Since the announcement of the deal in January 2022, Microsoft has faced numerous objections, fearing that the deal could affect competition in the industry. These objections range from gamers and industry competitors to major government regulators like the US’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.K’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), all who are pushing for the deal to be blocked.
“Even with confidence in our case, we remain committed to creative solutions with regulators that will protect
competition, consumers, and workers in the tech sector,” said Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith. “As we’ve learned from our lawsuits in the past, the door never closes on the opportunity to find an agreement that can benefit everyone.”
Microsoft has remained open to work with the deal’s detractors to speed up the regulatory process, most notably seen in the 10-year deal reached with Nintendo to keep Activision titles such as Call of Duty on Nintendo consoles. Sony was offered a similar deal but the tech giant has been steadfast in its opposition towards the deal. Reuters stated that the EU Commission will not be open to remedies until the objections are filed. However, there are ongoing informal discussions regarding Microsoft’s concessions.
The Microsoft-Activision deal needs the approval of 16 countries. Currently, only Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia have approved of the deal.