Microsoft plans to persuade the European Commission to approve its plan to buy US video game publisher Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, reports a local Arabic daily.

Microsoft, that sells Xbox devices, announced in January 2022 its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which develops popular video games, including Call of Duty and Candy Crush. As this project that aims to create the third largest video game company in the world is facing problems related to competition laws.

The European Commission is authorized to oversee the competition in the European Union, and has opened an investigation in November 2022, expressing the fear that Microsoft might block access to video games developed by Activision Blizzard to users of consoles and computers, including the game “Call or Duty”. It postponed the deadline for making its decision to May 22, after it was previously set on April 25.

Neither Microsoft nor the Commission wanted to give details of the commitments made recently.

“We’ve kept our promise to make Call of Duty available to more players and devices, by securing deals to make the game available on Nintendo’s console and cloud gaming services from (Nvidia), (Bosteroid) and (Obitus),” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

He added, “We are now backing this pledge with binding obligations before the European Commission, which will help ensure that this deal benefits the players in the future.”

Microsoft chief Brad Smith visited Brussels last month for talks with European officials, after which he said he was more optimistic about getting the EU’s approval. However, Smith denied any intention to meet the demands that Microsoft would sell successful games such as “Call of Duty”.

The massive merger is also causing concern in the United States and the United Kingdom. The US Competition Commission (FTC) launched legal action in December to block the deal, and in February, the British regulator concluded in preliminary findings that a merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard could lead to higher prices.


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