Microsoft and Activision, the European Commission explains why it agreed to the acquisition

there European Commission He made it clear Because it agreed to acquire Activision Blizzard from Microsoftan opinion expressed by the Authority in contrast to the blockade decided by the UK Capital Markets Authority: according to the European Union, the operation – albeit with the necessary precautions – is not only not compatible with the single market, but in fact represents a positive development.

“No one doubts the importance of this shift in the gaming market, which is a dynamic market and millions of users in Europe participate,” the report reads. “So The acquisition deserves close scrutinyWe looked at the impact on gamers today and in the future, whether they’re playing on PC, console or smartphone; And we’ve focused on developing the cloud, which will play an increasingly important role in how we get to these experiences. “

One important element was that Microsoft and Activision had a small market share overall in Europe: you have to look at certain segments, like shooters, to find percentages above 20%. As for consoles, instead, PlayStation sells four times as much as Xbox.

“In light of this situation, We didn’t think the acquisition caused a problem. Call of Duty is a very popular first-person shooter series, they told me, but we figured Microsoft would gladly avoid shooting themselves by holding off sales of the series toward a broader user base like PlayStation’s. Our colleagues at CMA agreed and came to the same conclusion.”

“What we had doubts about is Cloud gaming, a market that is still emerging but we expect it to grow as it offers various benefits to players, such as the ability to unlock certain experiences from specific devices, which means greater access at lower costs. So the cloud deserves further study, and like us, the CMA has also focused on this market.”

We were concerned that Microsoft might make Activision games exclusive to its cloud platform, which would limit access to these titles and strengthen Windows’ standing as an operating system. What Our Opinions Differed From CMA’s on Proposed Solutions: Accepted Ten year agreement Which obliges Microsoft to bring these games to any cloud platform. Why did we do this instead of blocking the takeover? In our opinion, it is a solution that resolves uncertainties and has important pro-competitive effects.”