The US federal trade watchdog is going to court to block Microsoft’s acquisition of game producer Activision Blizzard. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the acquisition, worth 69 million dollars (65.3 million euros), creates unfair competition in the gaming market.
For example, Activision games could become more expensive on consoles from Microsoft’s competitors, such as Sony and Nintendo, or updates could become available later for these consoles, prompting gamers to switch to Microsoft’s Xbox computer.
The acquisition was announced in January this year and would be the largest acquisition by Microsoft in the tech company’s history. With the planned acquisition, Microsoft would instantly become one of the largest players in the gaming industry. Activision is the producer of popular games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero and Candy Crush and has almost 370 million monthly users.
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FTC chief executive Holly Vedova says in a statement that Microsoft has previously shown “that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals. Today, we want to prevent Microsoft from taking control of a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”
Microsoft says the deal will actually strengthen competition. The company says it looks forward to the lawsuit with confidence. To show that it won’t keep games away from rivals, Microsoft has already tried to make deals with Sony’s Playstation and Nintendo’s Switch over the long-term use of Activision-produced games.
The FTC is not the only competition authority to investigate the acquisition. A total of sixteen regulators worldwide did so, including the British and European trade watchdogs. These two regulators have not yet made a decision about the purchase. Their approval is required for the acquisition to go ahead.