Xbox boss says regulator concerns around Activision acquisition are fair
Phil Spencer is still “confident” the deal will be approved.
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CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer has said that his discussions with various regulators around the world have been “fair and honest” as pertains to the company’sacquisitionofActivisionBlizzard King, the videogame publisher responsible for Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush.
“I would say the discussions have been very fair and honest. It is a big acquisition, there’s no doubt," said Spencer. “Microsoft in its role in the tech industry, is a large tech company, and I do think the discussion around an acquisition of this size is warranted, and I’ve appreciated the time to go spend.”
Spencer made the comments during an interview at theWall Street Journal Tech Liveevent, as reported byVGC.
Spencer has been flitting around the world, apparently, talking to regulators and approval authorities to secure the deal. Brazil hasalready approved it, but theUK’s watchdogand theUS' FTCare both looking into the deal, with another decision deadline set by Europe’s CMA coming soon.
Despite all the scrutiny, Spencer remains says that he thinks the acquisition will eventually be approved by regulators. “I’m confident in that. I was just in London last week, continue to have discussions with all the regulatory boards, and remain confident that we’ll get the deal approved,” he said.
Call of Duty has been the focal point of discourse around the deal, but Spencer has been sayingfor some timethat most of Activision Blizzard King’s value for Microsoft is its mobile revenue. We usually just call the corporate giant Activision Blizzard around here, but that King bit of the company name refers to its mobile developer, which makesmore money than both PC and console gaming combined.
Spencer repeated a few other talking points in the interview, assuring the world that Call of Duty will continue to release on PlayStation “as long as that makes sense” and that he’d like to see it released on platforms like Nintendo’s Switch in the future.
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Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he’s not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.
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