A few days ago, Microsoft President Brad Smith posted a statement to explain his views on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard , and revealed the company's recent actions related to the transaction.
Brad Smith said that Microsoft is still facing huge challenges in the gaming industry at present. Not only is it lagging behind Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch in the game console market, but it has made no achievements in the mobile field. In addition, he further pointed out that the mobile game market currently generates the most revenue and grows the fastest, but a large part of the revenue flows to Apple and Google through the commission-drawing strategy of the app store.
So Brad Smith said the acquisition of Activision Blizzard will allow Microsoft to compete with these companies through innovation, and preventing this acquisition will make the gaming industry less competitive and the players' situation worse. He also said that there was news that the Federal Trade Commission may file a lawsuit to prevent the proposed transaction, "(if the agency does take this measure) it will be a huge mistake." There have been reports that Microsoft has prepared for possible lawsuits from the Federal Trade Commission and will defend it in court.
Brad Smith also compared game products with streaming video and music products, pointing out that, “While consumers can play videos or music on multiple devices through low-cost subscription plans, many games are often only available for purchase and download on one device. Microsoft hopes to change this situation and provide consumers with the option of subscribing to cloud gaming services, so that they can stream various games on multiple devices with just a reasonable fee. This will also benefit developers and enable them to reach a wider audience.”
He also admitted that Microsoft does not currently have enough products to support this goal, so this is also the significance of its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, that is, having many popular mobile, PC and console games will enrich its gaming content library.
It is worth mentioning that in the relevant content, Brad Smith also mentioned the competitor Sony . He said that Sony is now one of the main opponents of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard deal, saying "it is no less excited about the deal than Blockbuster's mentality in the face of the rise of Netflix."
Brad Smith pointed out that the potential anti-competitive risks raised by Sony are mainly Microsoft's exclusive share of games such as the " Call of Duty " series, but this is "economicly unreasonable" because an important part of the revenue of this series of games comes from PlayStation. He said, "Given that non-exclusive games are becoming more popular today, this is also disastrous for the Call of Duty series and Xbox itself, because this approach will alienate millions of players."
It is reported that Microsoft had previously promised Sony that it would retain Activision Blizzard's games on PlayStation for at least three years after the existing agreement is over, but Sony believes that this is far from enough. In this content released a few days ago, Brad Smith revealed that Microsoft has provided Sony with a 10-year contract and promised that the new "Call of Duty" will be launched on Xbox and PS in the future.
In addition, Xbox director Phil Spencer also posted that if Microsoft successfully acquires Activision Blizzard, it will promise to provide the Call of Duty series games on the Nintendo Switch and Steam platforms in the next 10 years. When asked in the relevant interview when Call of Duty will return to Switch, he said, "You can imagine that if (the transaction) is completed as scheduled and then starts to do development work to make it a reality, it may take a little time. Once we enter this rhythm, our plan is that when Call of Duty is launched on PlayStation, Xbox and PC, it will also be launched on Switch at the same time."
has a view on this, which believes that Microsoft's move may be hoped to alleviate the concerns of competitors such as Sony and antitrust agencies in various places about its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.It is reported that the transaction has been approved in three places: Saudi Arabia , Brazil, and Serbia , but it still faces review by regulatory agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union , and South Korea. Among them, in the UK and the EU, local regulators have previously announced the launch of a "phase two" review of the transaction and are expected to be completed by early 2023.
Not long ago, there were relevant reports that Microsoft may submit relevant remedies to the EU on the transaction in the next few weeks to avoid the latter making a judgment that is unfavorable to the transaction. Sources have revealed that the company's possible remedies will include signing a 10-year license agreement with Sony.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-