European regulators have been asking developers and publishers what Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard could mean going forwards, a new report claims.
Reutersreports that it’s seen a 91-page questionnaire written by the European Commission, designed to get information from companies more knowledgable about the subject.
According to a source reportedly familiar with the matter, the questionnnaire was sent out earlier this month, likely to console manufacturers, publishers, developers and distributors and providers ofPCoperating systems.
It’s claimed that the survey, which asked for responses before Christmas, asks recipients which exclusivity strategies they thinkMicrosoftwould be able to carry out if it was to acquireActivision Blizzard.
For example, it reportedly asks whether the company would be able to degrade the quality ofActivision‘s games on competing consoles, or provide updates that are only onXbox.
It also asks whether Microsoft is likely to raise the wholesale price of Activision’s games on competing consoles – thereby forcing retailers to charge more forPS5versions, for example – or delay non-Xbox versions so they’re released at a later date.
As is the case with much of the discourse surrounding the proposed acquision, the survey is also said to focus specifically on Call of Duty at one point, asking if its recipients consider it the most important video game franchise for distributors, and what the main alternatives are.
In recent weeks Microsoft has been repeatedly making assurances that it intends to release Call of Duty games onPlayStationplatforms for the foreseeable future.
In a bid to help gain approval for its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, earlier this month Microsoft said it hadoffered Sony a 10-year, legally enforceable contractto make each new Call of Duty game available on PlayStation the same day it comes to Xbox.
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It alsoentered into a similar deal with Nintendo, and offered one toSteamownerValvetoo, which resulted in Valve bossGabe Newellpublicly stating it wasn’t necessarybecause Xbox has “always followed through” on its promises.
Earlier this month the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)said it was attempting to block the $68.7 billion dealbecause it believed it would enable Microsoft to “suppress competitors” to its Xbox consoles, its subscription content and its cloud gaming business.
In an official response to the news, Microsoft president Brad Smith saidthe company was confident in its caseand would attempt to prove that the deal was not anti-competitive.
