Gamers are joining the FTC to help prevent Microsoft’s deal with WoW and CoD giants – Activision Blizzard.
Gamers are joining the FTC to help prevent Microsoft’s deal with WoW and CoD giants – Activision Blizzard.
Activision Blizzard after the incident with allegations of a toxic working environment caused the company to lose trust from fans.
The Federal Trade Commission has a new ally when it sues Microsoft to try to block the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The community seems to be rallying together to prevent the Xbox giant from growing even stronger. For the past year, Microsoft has been busy with the FTC over the possible acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The company first announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in January, which would give the Xbox company access to games like World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. The FTC was involved in the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in February, when the organization began overseeing the deal. Just earlier this month, the FTC announced that it was suing to block this acquisition.
Thanks to antitrust laws, ordinary citizens can also sue companies to prevent monopolies from forming, and some have cooperated to take advantage of this. Calling themselves “video gamers” in the official complaint, the group said the acquisition would give Microsoft “a huge advantage in the gaming industry.” The team stated that after Microsoft acquired Rare in 2002 and Minecraft publisher Mojang in 2014, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard would give them an unfair advantage over all competitors.
Just last year, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Bethesda. This gives them exclusive rights to big money franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. This acquisition alone has fueled their already wildly popular Game Pass subscriptions, with games from each brand coming to the service fairly quickly once the deal is signed.
Will the acquisition of Activision Blizzard degrade their future titles?
If this deal goes through, gamers can expect a lot of Activision Blizzard branding to appear on Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. However, as has been seen with other massive corporate acquisitions, such as Warner Bros. Discovery, can have as many downsides as well. While it is doubtful that projects will be mass canceled or older titles wiped out, there are plenty of other possibilities emerging.
Activision Blizzard came up with the idea of a sequel to the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater remake recently. Under Microsoft ownership, such projects may have another opportunity. No matter what happens with this deal, Call of Duty can still be released.
