The Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Gaming said in an interview that he remains confident with the proposal of the company as they acquire Activision Blizzard King despite concerns from regulators.
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(Photo : Christian Petersen/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 09: Phil Spencer, Executive President of Gaming at Microsoft, speaks during the Xbox E3 2019 Briefing at The Microsoft Theater on June 09, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
Activision Blizzard Acquisition
A report from PC Gamer stated that Microsoft Gaming Chief Executive Officer Phil Spencer noted that the discussions he had with several global regulators are concerned with the company's acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, which he acknowledged as fair, honest, and warranted.
He stated that "Microsoft in its role in the tech industry, is a large tech company, and I do think the discussion around an acquisition of this size is warranted, and I've appreciated the time to go spend." Yet he cleared during the Wall Street Journal Tech Live event that he remains confident with this proposal. Spencer said that he was just in Londo last week for a discussion with all the regulatory boards.
Acquisition's Status
Spencer has been talking to different regulators regarding the approval of the deal. As of the moment, Brazil already approved the deal yet the United States Federal Trade Commission is still reviewing this deal, which DBLTAP confirmed on their report.
Meanwhile, United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority has officially expanded its review to the second phase after voicing concerns that it might harm other subscription services like PlayStation. Europe's competition watchdog will also be having a decision soon if they push to second phase as they set a deadline on November 8.
According to Video Games Chronicle, the discussion from the regulators and the games industry is focusing more on Call of Duty, the best-selling release of the year in the United States.
These are still in the talks is it will be part of Microsoft's acquisition but the company has already assured that the series will be remaining on PlayStation. However, Sony told the press that this might bring CoD's future into "inadequate on many levels."
In the same interview, Spencer again clarified that it will continue to release on PlayStation platforms in the future as they are more interested in the mobile growth for the addition of Activision Blizzard in the company, especially with Call of Duty Mobile. This deal is very important for the company as they seek opportunity in mobile gaming.
"This franchise will continue to ship on PlayStation natively, it's not our plan to bait and switch somebody where they've got to play in the cloud, or that in two to three years we're going to pull the game. Our intent is that we would continue to ship Call of Duty on PlayStation as long as that makes sense. Tech is always in some form of transition," he added.
