Microsoft is still at the center of the attention of the video game industry while the firm awaits the verdict of the various institutions regarding its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. While we wrote this week that the European Commission would have reservations about the operation, the Redmond firm is receiving strong support from the European Games Developer Federation which brings together more than 2,500 European studios, themselves represented by associations such as the French SNJV. It is via a press release that the EGDF presents its reading of the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal and its results on the industry.
Incriminating passive…
The EGDF introduces its reading by observing that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which is a major player in the publishing market, logically raises questions about the risks of anti-competitive behavior on the part of Microsoft. Indeed, the Redmond firm has “not always respected in the past the assurances it has given to continue to make available on competing platforms the games published by the companies it has acquired”. On this point, the EGDF therefore welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to investigate the operation in depth, before arguing on its position which is favorable to the acquisition.
…to the current context
Nevertheless, EGDF supports the transaction given the potential positive effects on competition. Indeed, according to the Federation, the sum of these positive effects is greater than the disadvantages when we look at the low offer of subscriptions in the sector and the market leader position of PlayStation. This acquisition would therefore allow Microsoft in its capacity as challenger to fight “on equal terms” in an industry that is undergoing strong consolidation with multiple acquisitions, particularly in the publishing industry.
An industry that has evolved
One of the key points raised by the EGDF is the current state of the video game industry, and the European Commission is invited to broaden its perspective beyond the hardware market alone with consoles: the deal would allow Microsoft to compete with Apple and Google on the mobile market with the Blizzard-King catalog which notably includes Candy Crush. Microsoft’s new presence in mobile gaming with its app marketplace would provide access to a new platform that would allow studios to better negotiate their terms in or out of the current dominance of iOS and Android developers.
There is also talk of the emergence of cloud gaming in which Microsoft holds a position deemed “crucial” to compete with Apple since the Stadia service is no longer relevant. On the publishing side, which is the first subject put forward concerning the deal, the Redmond firm would have a new argument to stay in the race against Tencent, which has invested aggressively and sustainably in studios, publishers and has declared that it wants continue this momentum.
An exhaustive list of measures to be applied
If Microsoft’s initiative is welcomed in terms of opening up to competition with the Open Appstore that the firm wants to offer on its Windows system, the EGDF nevertheless wanted to list the pro-competition points that Microsoft must maintain. to justify the positive nature of this acquisition:
- Continue its work to make all of its platforms more open and transparent, including expanding its app store principles to Xbox.
- Continue to also allow controversial cultural and artistic content on all its platforms.
- Continue to allow Web3 games on its platforms, as they could be a game-changer and contribute to the emergence of new European platforms.
- Continue to invest in small and medium-sized game development studios, to ensure more diverse content on its platforms.
- Continue its investment in the development of cross-platform games and make its games widely available on all platforms.
- Guarantee game developers and publishers the same access to personal and non-personal data about their games that Microsoft has on all of its platforms.
- Break the console market triopoly and be content competitive by lowering its 30% platform fee on Xbox.
- Continue close dialogue with European game developers to improve its platforms and app stores.
Finally, the EGDF invites the European Commission to ensure that Microsoft effectively honors its commitments regarding the continuity of Activision Blizzard licenses such as Call of Duty on other platforms. It is interesting to read the opinions of the various players on the international video game scene, whereas the interventions of Microsoft and Sony directed at the authorities or in response to one or the other dominated the period preceding the in-depth investigations.
