Activision Blizzard has blasted back at the FTC’s decision to block Microsoft’s US$69bln purchase, saying the regulator’s decision is based on ‘misconceptions about the tech industry’ and believes the deal will yet be completed.
Microsoft laid the groundworks for the deal back in January.
“The allegation that this deal is anti-competitive doesn't align with the facts, and we believe we’ll win this challenge” said Bobby Kotick, the Call of Duty gaming group’s chief executive, said in an open letter to employees.
Sony consistently objected to the buy-out claiming that PlayStation would no longer be able to compete in the 18+ shooter space like Nintendo, arguing that it would lose a significant portion of gamers should Call of Duty become an Xbox exclusive.
“Making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox doesn’t make good business sense. Microsoft would lose billions of dollars in lost sales and would infuriate both PlayStation owners and Xbox owners (who would lose the ability to play with their friends who own PlayStations). The player backlash would be disastrous.” Kotick added.
“That’s why we’ve offered Sony a 10-year contract to make each new “Call of Duty” release available on PlayStation… Microsoft made a similar commitment to the European Commission when we acquired LinkedIn in 2016, ensuring access to key technologies for competing services” added Brad Smith, Microsoft president.
Both Nintendo and Sony did not reply when asked for comments about the recent update from FTC.
Activision Blizzard’s share price is currently $75.