It has probably become to be expected that every few weeks a few new events will come to light that will delay the Microsoft Activision deal again. There have already been numerous complaints from Sony, which fear that Microsoft could establish a monopoly on the video game market by taking over Activision Blizzard. After all, giant brands like Call of Duty would suddenly belong to Microsoft. The US Trade Inspectorate also recently blocked the deal and the EU also has a say in the whole thing. In addition to Sony, two other large tech companies have now commented on the takeover: Google and Nvidia also fear that the deal would give Microsoft too much power and could ban video games from competing platforms.
“Unfair advantage in the gaming market”
It seems Sony isn’t the only big company not keen on the idea of Microsoft acquiring video game giant Activision Blizzard. In a new report from Bloomberg, both Google and Nvidia raised concerns with the FTC over the deal and Microsoft’s potential to deprive competitors of games.
According to the report, both Google and Nvidia have told the Labor Inspectorate that they believe Microsoft could gain “an unfair advantage in the cloud, subscription and mobile gaming markets.”
According to the report, Nvidia did not completely oppose the deal between Microsoft and Activision. Instead, the company merely emphasized “the need for equal and open access to game titles”.
What does that mean for the future?
In addition to Nvidia and Google, the FTC itself launched proceedings against Microsoft in December to prevent the $69 billion takeover. Of course, Microsoft opposed this and repeatedly emphasizes that they don’t want to withhold their games from certain platforms.
For example, the software company has negotiated a deal with Nintendo, according to which “Call of Duty” should appear for every Nintendo platform for the next ten years. Sony was also offered the same deal for the Playstation, but the Japanese company turned it down.
The fact that Google and Nvidia are now also involved in the deal shows that the takeover affects far more than just Activision’s big brands. Nvidia, for example, should have an interest in Activision games continuing to be released for the PC, for which they sell their own graphics cards. And with Geforce Now you also have your own streaming service, which is theoretically in competition with Game Pass.
Source: Bloomberg
