Activision Blizzard‘s CEO Bobby Kotick has penned a letter confirming that the Microsoft Activision deal has entered in-depth investigation in Europe. Also referred to as Phase 2, the second round of investigation by the European Commission will more closely scrutinize the impact of the merger on Microsoft’s rivals as well as the industry as a whole.
In the first phase of investigation, Microsoft apparently failed to convince regulators that any potential Call of Duty exclusivity won’t hurt Sony.
Microsoft Activision deal is apparently “moving along as expected”
Despite Microsoft being visibly unhappy with in-depth investigations across the pond, both Microsoft and Activision say that the process of closing the deal is “moving along as expected.” Kotick wrote:
As we said when we announced our merger, this is a long process. We have already received approvals from countries including Brazil. After a close review of the transaction, the Brazilian authority arrived at the understanding that we operate in a highly dynamic and competitive industry, and that the merger will not harm competition in any way. We continue to work cooperatively with regulators in other jurisdictions, and the process is moving along as we expected. Because so many large global companies across the world are now competing in the nearly $200 billion dollar games industry, it’s understandable that regulators are trying to better understand the games business.
European Commission hasn’t released a new statement on the matter.
