Can FTC Block Microsoft's Purchase of Blizzard Activision? Business Experts Weigh In

Currently, the news that is on everyone's lips are linked directly to the potential agreement that Microsoft would have for buying Blizzard Activision, because things have not become as simple as what happened at the time with Bethesda. This has led to think that in the end it could be blocked, since the FTC is not so convinced to approve the treatment. Through networks, it can be seen that there are several arguments, publications, interviews and executive appointments about what is happening in business. And it is that many of us are only as spectators, but there are people who can give a lighter point of view, especially for those who handle marketing and business issues. The medium known as IGN contacted legal experts about the details of this agreement and what could be the result.

Some with somewhat scattered opinions, because there is a good probability that it is concretized, but also that it does not happen, so the results analyzed by journalists are not entirely clear. While the FTC mission is to verify that monopoly is not made, they do not necessarily always have the total authority to block companies. That happened with its recent failure to prevent the goal from buying the Fitness VR Within Unlimited company. On the other hand, he won a victory when Nvidia rejected her planned acquisition of $66 billion of the chip designer, and another even against a merger of planned books. The expert Sam Castle by Sam Castle Law explained that the FTC complaint was based on two main tactics. The first raises the concern that Microsoft could retain certain games from competitive platforms. While this is not something that has happened, the FTC wants to make sure it never happens to deliver versions lower to the competition or restrict. This is what he commented:

There is also the issue of using Activision to launch future Xbox exclusive without Microsoft having to pay anything extra for the privilege of exclusivity, as happened with Star field after Microsoft bought Animal. That is a slightly more serious concern, but as Microsoft points out, everyone has some exclusive.

The second tactic would imply the concept of relevant markets. The FTC is trying to say that the agreement would create a monopoly in a limited definition of a specific market, this would include PS5 and Xbox, not switch. Then, I would define the subscription services of content libraries such as a different market and cloud games as another. The idea here seems to show an impact on very narrow segments of the games market, instead of an impact on video games in general. For now, it seems that the treatment is somewhat far from being completed. Via: IG Editor's note: The issue of purchase is more complicated than you can think, so I don't think it will soon be resolved. Surely let's see something much clearer to half of 2023.