Microsoft's defense of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard is unconvincing

In Great Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had scheduled a more detailed examination of the takeover of Activision Blizzard.

In response, Microsoft even published an information website. Sony, on the other hand, is known to be an opponent of the deal and believes it poses a threat to sales of its PlayStation platform. It is feared that Microsoft will link the “Call of Duty” brand to the Xbox platforms in the foreseeable future. And the CMA seems, for now at least, more to share Sony's view. In a statement (PDF) the CMA states that Microsoft's arguments allegedly in favor of the takeover are unconvincing. Rather, you break down your concerns, which remain unclouded. The CMA does not believe that Microsoft will permanently release "Call of Duty" for PlayStation consoles. In the long term, it is much more attractive for the Redmond-based company to tie the games to its own platforms, even if this results in short-term losses in sales figures due to the loss of PlayStation users. If you look at Microsoft's actions so far, it becomes clear that the manufacturer is willing to accept short-term losses in order to strengthen its ecosystem. Microsoft has already taken over multi-platform publishers in the past, but then tied future games to its own platforms. Personally, I see that as a reference from the CMA to the Bethesda takeover. Because, for example, "Starfield" is only released for Xbox consoles and the PC. Microsoft also made the point that stopping offering Call of Duty on competing platforms would damage the company's image. According to the CMA, this line of reasoning cannot be followed. Overall, the CMA says it will look at the acquisition of Activision Blizzard more broadly, but the potential impact on Sony could be significant in the already increasingly consolidated gaming market. Nintendo, on the other hand, is not so affected by this, because with its family-friendly model and significantly different hardware, it focuses on other target groups. Stakeholders can now submit statements to the CMA until October 28, 2022. At the moment, however, it seems as if the British antitrust authorities could either stop the takeover or at least impose conditions.