The UK Competition and Markets Authority, also known as the CMA, published a statement showing that the majority of public responses it received on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft were positive. Microsoft announced the acquisition early this year and has seen numerous bumps on the road to finalizing it.
In the nearly 12 months since the acquisition was announced by Microsoft, multiple governmental bodies have made their own inquiries into the tech company's nearly $70 billion purchase. A recent development was the Federal Trade Commission suing to block the purchase, a move that received backing from gamers opposed to the Activision Blizzard acquisition who went on to file their own lawsuits against Microsoft. Public opinion on the buyout has varied as both companies involved have worked to make the deal go through while being eagerly watched by the gaming community.
Following the publication of the CMA's issue statement in October, the agency collected public responses for a period of two weeks in which they received over 2,100 emails. A summary of these responses was published today, showing that roughly three-fourths of them spoke in favor of the buyout. Arguments in favor of the acquisition include that it would put Microsoft in a better position to compete with Nintendo and Sony, that Microsoft would be able to provide better leadership guidance to the publisher, and that Activision Blizzard properties would likely still be widely available if not more so, such as through plans to make Call of Duty available on Xbox Game Pass.
Views against the merger made up the remaining 25% of the responses received by the CMA. Reasons against the buyout included Microsoft already being dominant in the PC gaming space, the added incentivization to make Activision Blizzard franchises exclusive to Xbox, and that the purchase "would set a harmful precedent in the gaming industry of acquiring large publishers," something familiar to gamers due to Microsoft buying Zenimax Media last year.
Perhaps the biggest news surrounding Activision Blizzard outside this acquisition would be its numerous legal troubles. There continue to be repercussions and developments from past lawsuits such as the recent news of Activision Blizzard's lawsuit against California's Civil Rights Department, the same agency that sued the publisher last year for workplace discrimination and misconduct. Despite dominating the gaming news cycle late last year, it was noticeably not mentioned in this summary from the CMA except for one passive reference in the views speaking in favor of the buyout. These issues of discrimination and mistreatment are perhaps the biggest factors affecting the publisher outside the Microsoft purchase, so it is worth it for gamers to keep it in mind throughout these legal proceedings.
Source: Competition & Markets Authority