According to a report by Archyde.com news agency, the US software company requested the hearing following receiving a statement of objections from the European Commission. The statement of objections warned of the potential anti-competitive effects of the deal.
Microsoft was quoted as saying, “We continue to work with the European Commission to address any market concerns. Our goal is to bring more games to more people, and this deal will further that goal.”
Microsoft-Activision deal might hurt gamers Last week, Britain’s antitrust regulator said an in-depth investigation found that Xbox maker Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard had raised competition concerns regarding cloud and console gaming.
Similar concerns have been raised by the US Federal Trade Commission saying Microsoft has a history of hoarding valuable gaming content.
However, Microsoft struck a 10-year deal with Nintendo to make “Call of Duty” available on Nintendo consoles, a move intended to impress competitors’ enforcers.
The company also said it had also offered a similar deal to Sony, which is the “highest objection” to the deal.
The company said it wanted the deal to help it compete with gaming industry leaders Tencent and Sony owner PlayStation.
Without Activision and its variety of games across mobile devices, consoles, and PC, Microsoft may struggle to attract users to its platform.
Last year, Microsoft president Brad Smith said that acquiring Activision Blizzard would enable Microsoft to compete once morest these companies through innovation that would benefit consumers.
He also noted that the company wants to offer consumers an option to subscribe to a cloud gaming service “that allows them to stream a wide variety of games on multiple devices for one reasonable fee.”
It will also benefit developers by allowing them to reach a much wider audience.”
