PlayStation CEO spoke to the EU about Activision

We return with a new episode about Microsoft’s eternal battle to acquire Activision Blizzard and have sagas like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch and Candy Crush in their possession. The Microsoft purchase agreement is going to be one year old and after seeing yesterday the drama that took place between the FTC, Microsoft and the EU, we return to add one more character to this trio. Now it is the turn of the PlayStation bosswho had an appointment with the antitrust chief of the EU to negotiate the agreement on Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.

When Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in January 2022 for $68.7 billion, we were all taken by surprise. We have never seen such a large number to acquire game studios and in fact, it is considered the most expensive purchase agreement for Microsoft. But really everything makes sense when we know that it takes some of the most important studios in the world. We have Activision with the Call of Duty franchise that sells millions of copies each time, Blizzard with Diablo, WoW or Overwatch and what to say about King Entertainment, the creators of the famous Candy Crush. Looking at this repertoire, the US and EU regulators agreed on something, Microsoft would dominate the video game industry if it completes the purchase.

PlayStation CEO talks to the EU about Microsoft and Activision

Microsoft has two main rivals who oppose the purchase of Activision Blizzard, being the US FTC and EU European Commission. However, we recently saw an unexpected turnaround as European regulators tried to cut a deal with Microsoft. This walked away from the accusations of monopoly and the opposition he presented to the company without changing his mind. Well, with this deal, there was a chance to negotiate the purchase of Activision and of course, this reached the ears of the FTC, which intervened suing Microsoft. So far we have come, but now an old rival returns and one of those who started this whole legal battle, Sony.

Specifically, we refer to jim ryanthe CEO of PlayStation, who is now reported to have met with the EU’s antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager. No details are given about the conversation, except that Jim and Margrethe were talking about the Microsoft and Activision deal.

On April 26, the United Kingdom will publish its conclusions on Microsoft

How this will affect the badly damaged state of Microsoft, we don’t know exactly, but the situation is not looking good. Let’s remember that Sony has been at the foot of the canyon when it comes to defending the Call of Duty franchise. In fact, this was the one that began by ensuring that if Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard, the PlayStation users would switch to the rival console, something that has undoubtedly influenced the EU. All of this just makes one thing clear, Microsoft is surrounded by opposition and we don’t see a hole where they can get out.

With that said, we are done with the deadlines imposed by the EU to make the final decisions on the deal. The European Commission will have to decide before the April 11, although we do not rule out that it is brought forward due to what happened with the FTC. On the other hand, the UK Competition and Markets Authority has delayed the date of its report. Now it indicates that it will publish its conclusions on its investigation in competition regime next April 26.