The European Commission has extended the deadline for making a final decision on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Gone are the days when some people viewed Microsoft’s approval of the Activision Blizzard acquisition as a mere formality. Months have passed in a standoff between the Redmond giant and Sony, and other regulators are worried about the deal.
The representatives of the European Union are also concerned, even if we will wait a little longer than announced their opinion. The European Commission extended the decision deadline on the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft until April 25. Previously, the EC statement had to be released no later than April 11.
The new “deadline” coincides with the date set by the UK’s Consumer Protection Authority (CMA), which, by the way, was also a delay on the Brits’ previous plans. Both authorities have already released the preliminary results of their investigations, in which they essentially ruled against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Interestingly, the day before the deadline was changed by the EC, an article appeared in Bloomberg with statements by Margrethe Vestager. The European Union Commissioner for Competition and “A Europe Fit for the Digital Age” has said that regulators shouldn’t be competing over who gets to make a decision first on Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.
Vestager also stressed that each of these authorities must take into account the specificities of the markets they regulate. Therefore, they may not make the same decisions.
The European Commission has had more time to make a decision on Microsoft’s big purchase. Source: Activision Blizzard.
For now, however, the main investigating authorities – the CMA, the European Commission and the Federal Trade Commission – generally agree that a costly purchase of Microsoft could threaten competition in the games market. At most, they differ on whether and how the deal (eg, splitting off the Call of Duty brand) from Activision Blizzard might happen.
However, the company still seems to believe in the possibility of closing the deal. The recent meeting between their representatives and EU officials may have been the reason the European Commission gave itself more time to make the final decision.
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Passionate about video games (and others) for years, he completed an MBA in linguistics, defending a thesis on games. He started his adventure with GlobeLiveMedia in 2015, writing in the editorial department, then also covering movies and oh, horror! – technology (also a contributor to the Games Encyclopedia). He started out with platform games, which he still loves (including metroidvania), but he also likes card games (including “analog” games), fighting games, soul games and practically any other kind of game. Don’t ask about the graphics: after a few hours of exposure, you can revel in pixelated game characters reminiscent of the days of the (if not older) Game Boy era.