The European Union is reportedly expected to give the nod to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
That’s according to Reuters, which claims that the Xbox firm giving licensing deals to its rivals was what tipped things over the edge. This refers to Microsoft offering ten-year deals to bring Call of Duty to Steam, Nintendo Switch and Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service, as well as PlayStation. The Xbox giant might also have to offer ‘other behaviour remedies,’ which normally refers to how the merged company behaves.
In a statement, Microsoft said that it is: “committed to offering effective and easily enforceable solutions that address the European Commission’s concerns.”
A spokesperson continued: “Our commitment to grant long-term 100 per cent equal access to Call of Duty to Sony, Steam, Nvidia and others preserves the deal’s benefits to gamers and developers and increases competition in the market.”
That’s one big hurdle that the deal has possibly cleared, but the $68.7 billion acquisition still needs to the approval of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. It also needs to fend off a lawsuit from the United States’ Federal Trade Commission.
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