Stemming off any possible allegations of bias, the European Commission has made statements regarding an employee chiming in on their ongoing investigation of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Ricardo Cardoso is the Deputy Head of Unit Interinstitutional & Outreach at the European Commission in the EU. On the same day that the EU announced they would be launching a proper full investigation into the deal, he tweeted these statements out:
“The Commission is working to ensure that you will still be able to play Call of Duty on other consoles (including my Playstation). Also on our to do list: update stock pictures. These gamers have wired controllers whereas Xbox and Playstation have wireless ones since about 2006!”
While Mr. Cardoso seemed to be glib and unserious in his tweet, it raised people’s radar that there might be a bias within the commission in regards to the investigation. The EU itself shared this statement when asked about the tweet:
“Mr Cardoso works in the Director General for the Internal Market and not in the Directorate General for Competition.
Mr Cardoso is not involved in the assessment of this transaction. Furthermore, as indicated clearly in his Twitter profile, he tweets in a personal capacity.”
Subsequently, Mr. Cardoso made this follow up tweet in reply to his original statement:
“To clarify: I am not involved in the assessment of the merger and don’t even work in the department dealing with mergers. As is clear from my profile my comments are personal and not a Commission position, whose decision will be taken on the basis of the facts and the law.”
The high interest in the Microsoft deal to acquire Activision Blizzard is about more than Call of Duty games on PlayStation. To be clear, this is a real concern, and not just because some gamers don’t get to play their favorite game.
To the bigger world beyond gamers, video games are seen as an incredibly profitable industry, which also proved to be particularly resilient during the pandemic. This acquisition has millions of dollars behind it, and the livelihood of thousands is also on the line.
Not only are the many studios and subsidiaries under Activision Blizzard affected by this deal. It also has plenty of consequences for Activision Blizzard’s and Microsoft’s partners and competitors. While Sony itself just signed a major deal acquiring former Microsoft studio Bungie, this deal, if it pushes through, has the potential to change the industry at the same level as when Sega left the video game hardware business.
Microsoft leadership has consistently expressed confidence that the deal will push through. The EU is now under pressure to prove that their investigation on the deal will really be pursued without bias and in good faith.
Source: Video Games Chronicle