Microsoft stock and Activision Blizzard stock benefit: EU Commission approves Activision deal from Microsoft

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BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – The EU Commission was satisfied with Microsoft’s commitments and gave the green light for the approximately 69 billion dollar deal on Monday. However, the takeover of games such as “Call of Duty” and “Overwatch” is still being blocked by British competition watchdogs who fear damage to competition in cloud gaming.

The EU Commission, on the other hand, saw its initial concerns completely dispelled by concessions made by the software group. With cloud gaming, the games do not run on the users’ PCs or consoles, but on the servers in the network. The model still has a small market share, but is considered very promising. The Xbox group Microsoft has a strong position in the new business with its cloud platform Game Pass.

At the urging of the Commission, Microsoft agreed to provide cloud licenses for all Activision Blizzard games for ten years. This should allow users to play current and future PC and console games from Activision Blizzard via a cloud service of their choice. The prerequisite is that they purchase them individually or as a subscription. Cloud gaming providers automatically get a free license to offer the PC and console games over the web. Microsoft emphasized that the commitments apply worldwide.

Activision Blizzard games are currently still available on cloud services, the commission emphasized. She has hopes that these commitments will give a boost to the development of cloud gaming in Europe. The British competition authority CMA, which for its part prohibited the deal a few weeks ago, criticized the Brussels release. Microsoft’s proposals, accepted by the Commission, would allow the company to determine market conditions for the next ten years, the CMA stressed. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard want to break their blockade in court.

The Brussels competition authorities also see no danger to competition in the console market. They argued that a Microsoft Xbox would currently have four Sony Playstation consoles. Even if Microsoft should decide to keep a game like “Call of Duty” out of the Playstation, Sony’s market position could cope, it said.

Activision Blizzard announced plans to expand investments and workforce in the EU following the Commission’s decision. In addition to the British competition authorities, the US government also put obstacles in the way of the deal. The supervisory authority FTC wants to prevent the takeover with a lawsuit in court./lfo/so/DP/jha

On the NASDAQ stock exchange, Microsoft shares temporarily rose 0.04 percent to $309.09, while Activision shares also gained 1.43 percent to $78.48 in places.

BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX)

Image Credits: Eric Broder Van Dyke/Shutterstock, Activision Blizzard