Against the backdrop of Satya Nadella’s statements about the competition fostered by the marriage between Activision and Microsoft, the representatives of theEuropean Games Developer Federation they say they are in favor of the approximately 70 billion dollar agreement that should bring Activision, Blizzard and King into the Xbox family.
The EGDF’s approval of the deal concocted by Microsoft and Activision could be one of the major ‘victories’ obtained to date by the Redmond company and the Call of Duty publisher in this difficult phase of assessments by the international antitrust authorities, above all as regards it concerns the European Commission and the assessments underway in the Old Continent.
The European Federation of Videogame Developers (EGDF), in fact, brings together 23 national trade associations representing the development houses of the 22 countries of the European Union: through its members, the EGDF therefore represents more than 2,500 software houses employing over 40,000 people.
In the document drafted by the EGDF, representatives of the federation of EU developers believe that the merger between Activision and Microsoft will not negatively impact the entertainment industry and the competitiveness of other companies, as well as competition, consumers and employees. sector. However, in explaining the point of view of its associates, the EGDF believes that the deal should be subjected to a strict supervision by the relevant authoritiesespecially regarding the application of the promises made by Microsoft and Activision regarding the opening of their respective platforms and the cross-platform publishing of future Activision video games.
The EGDF also says it is aware of Sony’s concerns over the Activision x Microsoft deal, while underlining how Sony is the “clear leader in the video game market in the console segment with the PlayStation platforms, while Microsoft is in the position of the challenger”. The Federation of European Developers also observes how the merger between Activision and Microsoft should allow the latter to fuel the competition with Apple in the cloud gaming and subscription services sector, especially after the closure of Google Stadia.
