The FTC has voted to issue an administrative complaint against Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of game developer Activision-Blizzard.
The Federal Trade Commission has voted to issue an administrative complaint against Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of game developer Activision-Blizzard. The announcement follows Microsoft’s agreement with Nintendo concerning the highly-popular Call of Duty franchise.Just a mere two days ago, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft had entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard-King. The announcement also included a commitment to continue to offer Call of Duty on Steam “simultaneously to Xbox” after the deal had been closed. What is still missing, however, is any type of long-term deal with Sony. Now, the FTC has issued a statement saying it “alleges that maker of Xbox would gain control of top video game franchises.”The FTC believes that the deal would enable Microsoft “to harm competition in high-performance gaming consoles and subscription services by denying or degrading rivals’ access to its popular content.
