Activision Blizzard: EU agrees to takeover, according to report

Microsoft’s concessions are convincing EU regulators to approve the Activision-Blizzard deal with no further demands, according to a new report.

In order to persuade the European Commission to approve the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft recently announced an agreement that will ensure that Call of Duty will be available on Nintendo platforms and Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service in the future.

According to a new Reuters report, who cites several of his own sources, this concession seems to be paying off for Microsoft. It can be assumed that the Activision Blizzard deal will pass the EU regulators.

Further demands from the Commission, such as the sale of assets or the restriction to a partial purchase of Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft President Brad Smith expressly rejected, are not to be expected.

In its response to the report, Microsoft said it was committed to providing effective and easily enforceable solutions that address the concerns of the European Commission:

“Our commitment to giving Sony, Steam, Nvidia and others 100 percent equal access to Call of Duty long term preserves the benefits of the deal for players and developers and increases competition in the market.”

In the future, an external agency will then be commissioned to monitor whether Microsoft’s promises are being kept. Complaints from deal partners can also be submitted here. This means that neither the EU nor the CMA or other institutes need to use extra staff to monitor the takeover and its obligations.

In addition, Microsoft is gaining access to internal Sony documents for the past five years to further defend the acquisition before the CMA.