When it comes to dominating news stories of 2023, one of the biggest ones by far is that of Microsoft trying to complete its purchase of Activision Blizzard. The goal of this massive merger that would cost them 69 billion dollars was to ensure that the Xbox brand not only had more IPs to work with but would give them a bigger “stake” in the video game market. The Xbox line of systems has done decently since its arrival but has never been the “dominant system” for multiple reasons. The merger has already been approved and is happening, so why is the case still going on?
As insider Tom Warren notes on Twitter, a big appeal for the deal will start tomorrow. Specifically, the FTC, who launched the initial attack against this deal alongside Sony, is trying to officially break up this merger even though it’s been approved. As Warren reveals, the twist is that a bunch of venture capital firms and a slew of investors have banded together to write a letter of support for Microsoft. You can see the letter in the tweet below, and they note why they feel the FTC is wrong for going after the merger like they are.
There’s much to consider here and just as much to break down. One of the most important things to note is that, again, the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard has already been approved by the courts and has already begun to happen. As one person notes in the comments, what the FTC is trying to do now is much harder, and it could downright be impossible to make it pass. But that’s not stopping the FTC from trying.
So why are they pushing so hard for this? In the initial court case, they felt that if the companies merged, Microsoft could potentially force some of the biggest franchises in the world to be exclusive to the Xbox brand. The biggest of these is Call of Duty, which, despite some recent controversies, has still been among the best-selling franchises in the last several years.
Xbox denied this and even gave proof that they wouldn’t make things exclusive, including making a deal with Nintendo to bring their shooter franchise to their future consoles for the next decade.
But clearly, the FTC didn’t feel this was enough, and they’re going after them hard, even if it is an “impossible attempt.” We’ll have to wait and see how this all plays out.
