Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard $68.7bn deal gets global scrutiny – The Peninsula

Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard $68.7bn deal gets global scrutiny – The Peninsula

California: Microsoft’s plan to buy video game giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7bn could have major effects on the gaming industry, transforming the Xbox maker into something like a Netflix for video games by giving it control of many more popular titles.

But to get to the next level, Microsoft must first survive a barrage of government inquiries from New Zealand to Brazil, and from US regulators emboldened by President Joe Biden to strengthen their enforcement of antitrust laws.

More than seven months after Microsoft announced the deal, only Saudi Arabia has announced its approval. In the United Kingdom, regulators on Thursday threatened to escalate their investigation unless both companies come up with proposals within five days to ease competition concerns.

"A growing number of countries are subjecting major global transactions to deeper scrutiny,” said William Kovacic, a former chairman of the five-member US Federal Trade Commission. "Many of the jurisdictions that are exercising that scrutiny are significant economies and can’t be brushed off.”

Microsoft has faced antitrust scrutiny before, mostly notably more than two decades ago when a federal judge ordered its breakup following the company’s anticompetitive actions related to its dominant Windows software. That verdict was overturned on appeal, although the court imposed