After news that the Federal Trade Commission is looking into Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision for $68.7 billion, the company has released plan that they hope will persuade the regulators to allow the deal. Microsoft released an 11 point plan that they hope is convincing enough to allow the deal to be approved.
This deal represents Microsoft’s plan to get ahead of the regulators and prevent the scrutiny that other companies have received from deals that were meant to go through as well. Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith say that their new plan will include all of their business ventures and is not limited to just those that are included in the Activision deal. The details of this plan have come out a few weeks after the company announced intentions to keep the Call of Duty games on the Playstation and actually extend some of the deals until at least 2024.
Microsoft’s plan includes intentions to allow third-party app stores on their platforms while also promising to not give any special treatment to their own games. Additionally, the company will not require developers to switch onto their system and actually allow them to continue on whatever platform they prefer.
Both Nadella and Smith have recognized that regulators have become much stricter on large tech companies in recent memory. President Brad Smith said “Regulators don’t typically get all that concerned about a company becoming number three. But we’re not in the world of 2018 or 2019, it’s 2022. And we recognize there will be more scrutiny of any large acquisition that is being made by a large tech company. So I think that it really behooves us to step forward quickly and proactively and be very transparent about how we will manage this business, with a clear eye toward the competition law issues and responsibilities that we have.” Although Microsoft believes that the deal will be approved, they are making sure to get ahead of the regulators to convince them on the deal.
Both the statements made by Smith along with the 11 point plan that is going to be implemented come after the tech company filed their official paperwork with the FTC for the Activision deal. Microsoft has also announced that the plan will be in full effect regardless of the Federal Trade Commission’s decision.