The US Federal Trade Commission, the government agency that deals with consumer protection and privacy in the United States, has announced its intention to appeal for block the acquisition by Microsoft of Activision Blizzard, one of the most famous video game companies in the world. Microsoft has long had a major presence in the video game industry thanks to its Xbox consoles. Activision is best known for series call of Duty And World of Warcraftbut also for simpler but hugely successful video games, such as Candy Crush. However, according to the FTC, the acquisition would harm competition on the market.
In a statement, the FTC said that by gaining control of Activision’s video games, Microsoft would have “both the means and the motivation to harm its competitors,” for example by manipulating prices and lowering the quality or gaming experience on consoles. or on rival companies’ video game platforms. According to the agency, it could also change the terms of access to Activision’s content or make it completely unavailable on competing platforms, thus causing harm to consumers. The FTC’s motion will be reviewed by an independent judge within the agency before eventually being filed in federal court.
