EU to investigate Microsoft's proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition

The European Union (EU) commission has said it will open an "in-depth investigation" to assess the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.

In a press release, the commission said it was concerned about the risk to competition and feared that it may reduce it in markets for distribution of consoles and PCs.

The commission said that a "preliminary investigation" into the bid "shows that the transaction may significantly reduce competition on the markets for the distribution of console and PC video games, including multi-game subscription services and/or cloud game streaming services, and for PC operating systems."

In particular, the commission seems to be concerned that after acquiring Activision Blizzard, "Microsoft may foreclose access to Activision Blizzard's console and PC video games, especially to high-profile and highly successful games (so-called ‘AAA' games) such as ‘Call of Duty'."

It said that Microsoft has the ability and "potential economic incentive" to withhold important game properties from rival distributors and manufacturers such as Sony.

The EU started looking into the case in September this year and media reports suggested that the commission was interested in a closer look after Microsoft failed to provide adequate reasoning to curb competition concerns.

In January, Microsoft announced that it will be purchasing the Call of Duty and Candy Crush maker Activision Blizzard for a sum of $69 billion, which made it the largest sale in the video game industry.

Since then, the proposed deal has been subject to scrutiny in major markets such as the United States, European Union and China.

The Union now has 90 working days, until March 3, 2023, to make a decision on approval for the bid.