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Explainer: How Microsoft Is Addressing Antitrust Concerns Over Activision Deal

By  |  February 22, 2023

By Foo Yun Chee, Reuters

Microsoft has thrown the gauntlet down over antitrust criticisms, saying on Tuesday it is ready to offer rivals licensing deals in exchange for regulatory approval of its $69 billion deal to purchase video game publisher Activision, but it would not to sell the latter’s lucrative “Call of Duty” franchise.

WHAT IS THE ACTIVISION DEAL?

Microsoft announced the Activision bid in January last year, its biggest ever, to boost its firepower in the booming videogaming market and take on leaders Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T), and lay the base for its investment in metaverse, digital spaces which are made more lifelike by the use of virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR).

WHAT DO ANTITRUST REGULATORS SAY?

In December, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asked a judge to block the deal, saying it would give Microsoft’s Xbox exclusive access to Activision games and leave out Sony’s Playstation and Nintendo consoles.

The UK competition agency CMA has suggested divesting Call of Duty to address its concerns while the European Commission has warned Microsoft about the possible anti-competitive impact of the deal.

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