2023 has witnessed one of the major fiascos in the world of gaming. What we are talking about is Microsoft attempting to buy out Activision, which could have made legacy games like Call Of Duty exclusive to Xbox only.
This is also something which has dragged the company into a lawsuit involving its main competitor, Sony, along with the Federal Trade Commission.
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Federal Trade Commission Versus Microsoft
Microsoft was sued last year by the Federal Trade Commission when it attempted to take over Activision Blizzard group with an insane amount of $69 billion. FTC argued that the deal would give Microsoft too much control over games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, harming the market and the competition in the process.
This case was also joined by Sony, their leading competitor and parent company of PlayStation. Sony argued that the acquisition would give Microsoft a monopoly on the market for AAA games, which are the most popular and expensive among the bunch. Sony has also claimed that Microsoft can use its control over Activision Blizzard to make games exclusive to Xbox consoles, harming PlayStation users eventually in the long run.
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The lawsuit against Microsoft has brought to light many unknown facts about itself and Sony that were never known before, this included unreleased games as well as upcoming projects.
Sony has also seemed to enter a 10-year contract with Microsoft which essentially allows Call Of Duty to stay on the PlayStation platform for the coming years, reducing the amount of trouble for the company.
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2 Countries Remain To Authorize
The Activision Deal
For now, it looks like Microsoft has managed to seek out a way from the trouble it was about to get into when it bought the Activision group. With a recent green flag from New Zealand, only the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority remain to give the company a clear to proceed with the deal.
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If the deal goes through successfully after it gets clear from above stated authorities, it will be marked as a historical moment in the history of gaming and acquisitions.
The Sony vs. Microsoft lawsuit is a major development in the gaming industry, as it is the first time that a major gaming company has been sued by a competitor over an acquisition, essentially meaning the outcome of the lawsuit could have a significant impact on the future of the gaming industry.
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Source: NME
