Microsoft lawyer Beth Wilkinson belittled the FTC’s argument as a “ very naive” thesis that ignores the pressure the company’s gaming division will be under to deliver profit margins to justify the huge price being paid for Activision and the fierce backlash likely to happen among highly opinionated video game fans if a popular franchise such as Call of Duty was withheld from other platforms. “Having differentiated content is critical to selling more consoles and getting more subscribers.” “Activision makes the games that gamers want to play,” Weingarten asserted. Microsoft struck the deal 17 months ago in hopes of expanding its video game imprint beyond its Xbox console, which has about half the market share of the longtime industry leader Sony and its PlayStation device.īut the FTC has been fighting hard to block a deal that it fears will enable Microsoft to make popular franchises such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft exclusive to the Xbox and online subscription services that are becoming an increasingly bigger part of the $210 billion worldwide video game market - larger than the movie and music industries combined.įTC lawyer James Weingarten told Corley the agency will show evidence that Microsoft will have a “myriad of strategies” to withhold popular games from PlayStation and rival subscription prices, degrade the quality of games on competing platforms and raise prices on games that have developed fiercely loyal audiences. Meanwhile Microsoft is fighting to close the deal ahead of a July 18 deadline that would require paying a $3 billion breakup fee to Activision. Federal Trade Commission is trying to persuade Corley to issue an order that would prevent the takeover from being consummated before a more extensive administrative trial begins August 2 in Washington. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley on the first of five days of scheduled hearings in San Francisco that are likely to make or break what would be the most expensive acquisition in technology history. Those were the dramatically contrasting pictures drawn by lawyers arguing before U.S. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Federal regulators on Thursday launched a legal attack on Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard by depicting it as an anticompetitive weapon while Microsoft hailed the deal as a way to make popular games such as Call of Duty more widely available at cheaper prices. regulators that will reshape a pastime that’s bigger than the movie and music industries combined. Microsoft on Thursday will try to gain clearance to complete a $69 billion takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard in a legal showdown with U.S. The logo for Microsoft, and a scene from Activision “Call of Duty – Modern Warfare,” are shown in this photo, in New York, Wednesday, June 21, 2023.
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