Activision Blizzard: EU allows Microsoft to take over "Candy Crush" creators

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»Candy Crush« on mobile phones: Microsoft accommodated the EU Commission

Photo: Henning Kaiser/ dpa

Microsoft wants to pay around 69 billion dollars to take over the video game giant Activision Blizzard in the largest acquisition in the company's history – now at least one hurdle has been cleared: The EU Commission approved the deal. However, the acquisition of games such as "Call of Duty", "Candy Crush", "Diablo" or "World of Warcraft" continues to be blocked by British competition watchdogs. They fear damage to competition in cloud gaming.

The EU Commission, on the other hand, saw its concerns dispelled by concessions by the software company. In cloud gaming, the games do not run on users' PCs or consoles, but on servers on the net. The model still has a small market share, but is considered very promising. The Xbox group Microsoft has a strong position in the new business with its cloud platform Game Pass.

At the Commission's insistence, Microsoft agreed to provide cloud licenses on all Activision Blizzard games for ten years. This will allow users to play current and future PC and console games from Activision Blizzard via a cloud service of their choice. The prerequisite is that they strangle them individually or on a subscription basis. Cloud gaming providers automatically get a free license to offer PC and console games over the net. Microsoft emphasized that the commitments apply worldwide.

Currently, Activision Blizzard games are still available on cloud services, the Commission stressed. She hopes that these commitments will give a boost to the development of cloud gaming in Europe. Among game fans, the deal is controversial. (Read more here.)

British authority criticises EU decision

The British competition authority CMA, which in turn prohibited the deal a few weeks ago, criticized the Brussels clearance. Microsoft's proposals, accepted by the Commission, would allow the company to determine market conditions for the next ten years, the CMA stressed. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard want to break their blockade in court.

The Brussels competition watchdogs also see no threat to competition in the console market. On one Xbox from Microsoft, there are currently four Playstation consoles from Sony, they argued. Even if Microsoft were to decide to keep a game like "Call of Duty" away from the Playstation, Sony's market position could cope with this, it said.

Following the Commission's decision, Activision Blizzard announced that it would expand its investment and workforce in the EU. In addition to the British competition watchdogs, the US government has also spoken out against the deal. The FTC wants to prevent the takeover with a lawsuit in court.

kko/dpa