Tech giants Microsoft and Sony are currently arguing over the former’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard in a high-stakes European Union (EU) regulatory hearing in Brussels, with numerous industry players, regulators, and lawyers in attendance. Microsoft’s delegation is led by Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith backed up by Xbox head Phil Spencer, while Sony gaming chief Jim Ryan and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick are representing their companies, respectively.
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Earlier today, Smith revealed that Microsoft has signed a 10-year binding legal contract with Nintendo to bring Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty franchise to Nintendo consoles with full feature, content, and release date parity. Shortly before the hearing, Smith told reporters:
I think we’ll make clear that our acquisition of Activision Blizzard will bring more games to more people on more devices and platforms than ever before. We’re more than willing, given our strategy, to address the concerns that others have, whether it’s by contracts, like we did with Nintendo this morning, or whether it’s by regulatory undertakings, as we’ve consistently been open to addressing.
The closed-door hearing in Brussels will see Microsoft making its case for the acquisition to EU antitrust watchdogs at a time when the deal already faces stiff opposition in the US and the UK. Smith is leading an 18-strong delegation of senior Microsoft executives including Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who is publicly seen as the face of the acquisition. On the other end of the acquisition, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is also defending the deal as one of its foremost proponents alongside Microsoft.
Sony – the “loudest objector” to the acquisition – is represented by Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan, who has been publicly at odds with Phil Spencer since last September. Representatives from critics Google and Nvidia, numerous industry players including Valve and Electronic Arts (EA), the European Games Developer Federation, and antitrust regulators from Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden are all in attendance for what may well decide the future of the Microsoft-Activision deal.
Stay tuned here at MP1st for all news and announcements concerning Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.