(Archyde.com) – Microsoft said on Thursday that its proposed takeover of video game publisher Activision would benefit both gamers and other companies in the industry.
Microsoft announced in January that it wanted to buy Activision for an estimated 69 billion dollars (65.04 billion euros).
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the American competition watchdog, initiated a procedure at the beginning of the month aimed at blocking this takeover, saying that it feared a serious violation of competition.
Microsoft has filed an appeal to convince a judge of the instance to authorize its takeover project.
Brad Smith, president of the American computer giant, announced earlier this month that Microsoft had offered the FTC to sign an executive order, under which the company would provide access to “Call of Duty” games to its competitors during a decade.
“The acquisition of a single game by the manufacturer of the third console on the market cannot disrupt such a competitive industry. Especially if the manufacturer has made it clear that it will not block (access) to the game”, explains Microsoft in the appeal filed Thursday.
(Report Diane Bartz and Paresh Dave; French version Camille Raynaud)
by Paresh Dave