US authority sues Microsoft over planned purchase of Activision Blizzard
Microsoft wants to buy the games company Activision Blizzard for 68.7 billion US dollars. Now the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint against the deal.
It's the biggest hurdle Microsoft has faced yet: The US Federal Trade Commission FTC is filing suit against the Activision Blizzard acquisition. This comes after various regulators in the EU, the UK and other countries have already announced investigations into the $68.7 billion US deal.
The FTC is basing its complaint on Microsoft's numerous past studio purchases. These include Zenimax, the parent company of Bethesda, Mojang, the makers of "Minecraft", Obsidian Entertainment and many more. "Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from competitors," says Holly Vedova, director of the FTC. He is referring, among others, to the two blockbusters "Starfield" and "Redfall", which will be released exclusively for PC and Xbox.
A particularly hot topic for Sony is "Call of Duty". Although the Japanese themselves have signed numerous exclusive deals for beta tests or additional content for the popular military shooter, they accuse Microsoft of such plans. To smooth the waters, Microsoft has offered Sony, Nintendo and Valve a guarantee to develop "Call of Duty" for their consoles as well for ten years. Nintendo has already signed the pledge - although there is currently no "Call of Duty" for the Switch.
Microsoft is not holding back on criticism either, accusing Sony of paying studios to withhold content from Xbox Game Pass. It is expected that the FTC's lawsuit will unearth new intimate details about the two companies. It is not yet clear when the court will rule on the Activision-Blizzard deal.
Being the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
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