Microsoft on Friday said it had made formal commitments to the EU in an attempt to convince the bloc to approve its $69 billion acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard.
Last year, Xbox owner Microsoft made a move to create the world’s third-largest games company by revenue by buying the owner of the popular games “Candy Crush” and “Call Of Duty”, causing antitrust concerns.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body and the bloc’s powerful antitrust body, plans to make a decision by April 25, but has said it will extend that deadline until May 22.
This will give Brussels more time to reach out to companies that may have concerns about the deal as well as users after Microsoft sends its commitments to the EU.
Neither Microsoft nor the committee gave details of the commitments presented on Thursday. The company insists the takeover will benefit customers and remove competition concerns. Sony, Microsoft’s biggest rival, strongly opposes the merger.
Microsoft recently struck deals with multiple companies to provide access to games, including the hit “Call Of Duty” franchise.
“We’ve delivered on our promise to bring Call of Duty to more players on more devices by securing deals to bring the game to Nintendo consoles and other consoles,” said a company spokesperson. cloud game streaming service provided by Nvidia, Boosteroid and Ubitus”.
“We are now backing this commitment with binding commitments to the European Commission, who will ensure this agreement benefits future players,” the spokesperson added. Company chief Brad Smith was in Brussels last month to speak with EU officials, after which he said he was “more optimistic” about the deal passing, but he rejected calls for Microsoft to sell the devices. famous game like “Call Of Duty”.
However, Microsoft faces a bigger hurdle from UK regulators.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in interim findings last month that a takeover could significantly harm competition and consumer choice. The CMA will submit its final report by April 26.