As we discovered yesterday that the Brazil validated the takeover d’Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, it is today the European Union which makes the news with the leak of a questionnaire intended for developers, publishers and distributors of games.
The EU seeks the opinion of European video game players on the famous takeover
The European Commission has therefore begun to consult Microsoft’s rivals in Europe regarding Microsoft’s $68.7 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard. It was Archyde.com journalists who shared this information this morning.
Indeed, a hundred questions would have been sent to developers, publishers and distributors of games potentially affected by this takeover. It has been a week since Microsoft filed its case with the European Union and the European Commission has provisionally set itself a month to give its agreement or extend the investigation in more detail, like what had been observed with the British investigation at the end of August.
As for the questions themselves, they would concern the potential blocking of access to Activision Blizzard’s licenses for competitors or even the importance of the Call of Duty franchise for console game distributors and for subscription and cloud gaming service providers.
In addition, the European Union wants to examine whether the collection of consumer data gives Microsoft a competitive advantage, an aspect little explored until now. The questionnaire also discusses the impact of this agreement on Microsoft’s bargaining power when it comes to selling their games on Xbox consoles and Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription service.
The first feedback obtained by Archyde.com already evokes a relatively long investigation, which leads to believe that the European Commission will extend the investigation during a second phase.
