Xbox is under hot waters in recent times. Activision Blizzard’s acquisition, which Microsoft proposed earlier this year, became a crucial point of discussion than anyone expected it to be. The second large video game developer and publisher acquisition, coming right behind the Zenimax buyout, many raised some valid points.
Some said that these plans lean towards anti-trust problems. Others pointed out that this acquisition will probably make a few of the titles exclusive to one platform. The situation became so heated that Sony’s Jim Ryan publicly disclosed the Call of Duty deal offered to them by Xbox. Recently, Ryan even travelled to Europe to talk with respective authorities. Recently, UK’s CMA voiced concern about the deal, expanding its investigation.
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Amidst all this, the Xbox boss Phil Spencer spoke during the Wall Street Journal Tech Live event this week. He believes that the scrutiny is justified and warranted and disclosed the fact that he has been meeting with regulators around the world frequently.
“It might be surprising to people, but I’m not an expert on doing 70 billion dollar deals,” Spencer said. “But I do know that we’re very focused on getting approval in the major jurisdictions, and I’m spending a lot of time in Brussels, London and with the FTC here in the US.”
It will be interesting to see if the proposed Activision Blizzard deal, where Microsoft acquires the studio and its Catalogue goes through in 2023 or not.
