According to a story in the New York Times, “Microsoft’s legal staff also anticipates that the British antitrust regulator will oppose the purchase.”
Microsoft believes that the European Commission is receptive to potential solutions, and the corporation hopes to convince both the United Kingdom and the European Union to accept its concessions and approve the purchase.
It is stated that this could make it simpler to negotiate an agreement with the FTC before a trial slated for later this year. In addition, it is asserted that any one of the three agencies might exert pressure on the others to oppose the acquisition.
In an effort to thwart Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which the FTC claims would allow the firm to “suppress competitors” to its Xbox system, subscription content, and cloud gaming business, the FTC revealed its intention to sue Microsoft in December.
According to a recent report, the purpose of the FTC’s case was to discourage EU officials from accepting a settlement enabling the transaction.
The FTC and Sony are concerned, among other things, that the acquisition of the “irreplaceable” Call of Duty franchise by Microsoft will considerably diminish PlayStation’s capacity to compete.
Microsoft and Activision have maintained in their answers to the FTC’s complaint that their merger will be pro-competitive and beneficial to consumers by making the Call of Duty publisher’s games more widely available.
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