The soap opera about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues to unfold and while the Redmond giant does not get approval from all regulatory bodies around the world, we continue to receive different market perspectives on the transaction, including even a class action filed by US players, who try to stop the transaction.
The UK Markets and Competition Authority (CMA) released a summary of the responses received after inviting members of the public to share their views on Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the vast majority were favorable.
In October, the CMA published an issues statement that laid out the key areas it would likely consider in reaching a decision on whether the $69 billion transaction involving Activision Blizzard and Microsoft would result in a substantial decrease in competition.
The governing body also invited members of the public to speak a little about these issues over a two-week period.
Of the 2,100 emails we analyzed, about three-quarters were broadly in favor of the merger and about a quarter were broadly against the merger.
No clear opinion was expressed for or against the merger by a small number of respondents.
The CMA listed 14 opinions expressed in favor of the merger and 11 opinions expressed against it.
Some who argued in favor of the deal said it would allow Microsoft to better compete with Sony and Nintendo, who are both big players in the games industry.
Others said the merger wouldn’t hurt rivals because Microsoft was committed to keeping Activision’s content as Call of Duty non-exclusive.
It has also been argued that Microsoft’s plans to add Call of Duty to Xbox Game Pass are pro-competitive and will lower the price of accessing the games for consumers.
On the other hand, some who opposed the deal said they didn’t want Microsoft to become as dominant in the gaming space as it already is in PC operating systems.
Others claimed the deal could pave the way for future acquisitions of other leading publishers like Take Two, EA and Ubisoft.
And some said the deal could encourage Microsoft to make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox, as it did with some Bethesda games after the acquisition of ZeniMax Media, or even lower the quality of Call of Duty titles on PlayStation. .
We still don’t know what impact these opinions will have on the CMA’s decision, but it is a fact that a large part of the public is eager for approval.
And you, what’s your opinion on this?