Takeover of Activision: Microsoft tries to convince the European Commission, which postpones its decision

Microsoft has announced that it has submitted commitments to the European Commission to convince it to approve its plan to buy Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion.

Microsoft announced in January 2022 the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, publisher in particular of call of duty. The project, which aims to create the third video game company in the world, is facing competition problems.

The European Commission, the guardian of competition in the European Union, opened an investigation in November, saying it fears that Microsoft could block access to Activision Blizzard video games for consoles and PCs, including call of duty. She pushed back to May 22 the deadline for her decision, previously set for April 25.

Microsoft Chairman Brad Smith says his group is willing to offer rivals licensing deals to ease competition concerns, but not sell call of duty. In recent weeks, the company has signed agreements with companies to offer call of duty on their platforms.

“We delivered on our promise to bring Call of Duty to more players on more devices by entering into agreements to bring the game to the Nintendo console and cloud gaming services offered by Nvidia, Boosteroid and Ubitus”a spokesperson told Reuters. “We are now backing that pledge with binding commitments to the European Commission, which will ensure this deal benefits players in the future.”.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the European Commission was preparing to give the go-ahead for the takeover. But we will have to wait until May 22 to know the real decision.