After many impasses, the Microsoftproprietria do Xboxfinalized the purchase of the video game developer Activision Blizzardpublisher of Call of Duty, Diablo e Candy Crush, for US$69 billion, closing one of the largest technological partnerships in history. The transaction was completed last Friday (13).
There were almost two years of bureaucracy on the part of regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company had several offers rejected and submitted an amended version of its purchase proposal to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) at the end of August, receiving the authorization it needed to complete the deal.
The mega acquisition, announced in January 2022, is an incisive bet by Microsoft to strengthen itself in the games and help your Xbox console compete with the PlayStationyes Sony. This purchase places the American giant in third place in the ranking from the biggest video game companies, and will benefit gamers and the gaming industry around the world. In terms of business volume, Microsoft is now behind Tencent and Sony, surpassing the Apple.
In this way, notable transfers are expected, such as the rights to Activision Blizzard’s online games, including the successful Call of Duty and Candy Crush, which will be sold to the French company Ubisoft. The current cession also covers online games for PC and Activision consoles produced outside the European market over the next 15 years, and prevents Microsoft from blocking competition in the sector when that market takes off, which was a cause for celebration for the CMA.
In fact, one of the blocks suffered by Microsoft was by the United States regulatory body, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which claimed that the agreement would harm players and reduce competition by giving Xbox maker Microsoft the power to deny rivals access to Activision games.
The British regulatory agency had given provisional authorization at the end of September, but also expressed concerns linked to fears that Microsoft could avoid or not apply certain provisions of the agreement with Ubisoft. But, last week, the CMA guaranteed that the commitment made by the American company was sufficient for this agreement to be applied correctly.
Microsoft is paying cash for Activision at a price of $95 per share, which means Kotick, Activision’s executive chairman, will receive a payout of $400 million, with chairman Brian Kelly getting $100 million, based on in the shares it owns.
After the end of the 15 years, Ubisoft will no longer hold the cloud gaming rights to Activision content, but it is understood that the regulator believes the time frame will see rivals establish themselves so that the cloud gaming market be more competitive.
Microsoft hopes the acquisition will increase demand for Xbox and allow the technology company to add more titles to Xbox Game Pass, a service where members pay a subscription fee to access a catalog of games in the cloud, for example. download or by streaming.
Sony strongly opposed this deal due to concerns that big Activision titles like Call of Duty could become Xbox exclusives over time. Currently, the PlayStation console is sold more than the Xbox, but as with all entertainment platforms, the key to success is access to the best content.
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