John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 09.01.2022 09:Sep AM EDT

Microsoft’s Latest Blog Post Assures Regulators Its Activision Blizzard Deal Will Benefit Everyone

Microsoft is doing its best to make regulators realize its acquisition of Activision Blizzard will benefit everyone.

The Washington-based tech giant has recently published a blog post showing how beneficial its acquisition of Activision Blizzard is for the gaming industry.

The company previously announced it had entered into an acquisition deal with Activision Blizzard valued at $68.7 billion, inclusive of Activision Blizzard's net cash, per a separate Microsoft blog post.

Microsoft's Blog Post About Its Acquisition of Activision Blizzard

Microsoft Gaming's CEO, Phil Spencer, mentioned in the blog post that the company would pursue a "principled path" in its approach to Xbox Game Pass and Call of Duty.

According to the tech giant, it is committed to making the same version of Call of Duty available on PlayStation on the same day it launches elsewhere.

It also added that it knows players benefit from the approach it took, as it did the same thing with its acquisition of Mojang Studios' Minecraft, which continues to be available on multiple platforms.

Spencer also noted that Minecraft had expanded since it acquired Mojang Studios in 2014.

Spencer also assures regulators and the gaming community that it will protect the ability of developers to choose how to distribute their games as it expands its gaming storefront across new devices and platforms.

This statement is in line with what the company previously stated in a document submitted to Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense.

According to The Verge, Microsoft mentioned that prohibiting Activision Blizzard from distributing Call of Duty games to rival console stores "would simply not be profitable" for both companies.

The tech giant added that such a decision would only be profitable if the game in question could attract enough players over to the Xbox ecosystem to compensate for the losses from not selling the game on rival consoles.

Finally, Spencer stated that Microsoft would continue to engage with regulators with "a spirit of transparency and openness" as they review its acquisition deal with Activision Blizzard.

"We believe that a thorough review will show that the combination of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will benefit the [gaming] industry and players," Spencer added. "For all the players and game developers out there, you remain at the center of everything we do, and we will continue to listen to your feedback and do everything we can to nurture this industry we all love."

Microsoft's Stand

Microsoft's blog post was in response to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) concerns about the acquisition deal "substantially [lessening] competition in gaming, consoles, multi-game subscription services, and cloud gaming services."

As a result of its concerns, it then notified Microsoft that it would move to what it calls a "Phase 2 investigation" if the company couldn't answer its concerns within five working days.

A Phase 2 investigation involves an independent panel examining Microsoft's deal in depth and if the acquisition will harm the company's rivals.

So far, Saudi Arabia's regulator is the only one that has given the green light to Microsoft's acquisition deal.

Aside from the CMA, the Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission are still analyzing Microsoft's acquisition deal with Activision Blizzard.