The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulatory body is still investigating Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard and has new concerns regarding how the acquisition could impact competition.
On Thursday, the CMA submitted a lengthy summary detailing its investigation into Microsoft’s proposed deal — specifically mentioning how acquiring Activision Blizzard could impact Sony and Nintendo’s respective consoles.
“Activision Blizzard has some of the world’s best-selling and most recognizable gaming franchises, such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft,” reads the CMA’s statement. “The CMA is concerned that if Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard it could harm rivals, including recent and future entrants into gaming, by refusing them access to Activision Blizzard games or providing access on much worse terms.”
According to The Washington Post, Call of Duty has sold more than 425 million units and made roughly $30 billion. The most recent entries have seen a decline in sales, but it’s still a massive franchise. That’ll likely change when Modern Warfare 2 comes out this fall too.
Microsoft has already stated that it isn’t going to make Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive. The CMA isn’t convinced that’ll be the case should both companies successfully merge.
“Following our Phase [One] investigation, we are concerned that Microsoft could use its control over popular games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft post-merger to harm rivals, including recent and future rivals in multi-game subscription services and cloud gaming,” Sorcha O’Carroll, CMA senior director of mergers, said. “If our current concerns are not addressed, we plan to explore this deal in an in-depth Phase [Two] investigation to reach a decision that works in the interests of UK gamers and businesses.”
Last month, Sony claimed Call of Duty could impact someone’s console of choice. So we’ll likely be hearing about this particular talking point for a while.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
