A new report claims that technology giants Google and Nvidia have expressed some concerns about Microsoft’s proposed buyout of Activision Blizzard. The FTC has sued Microsoft to try to stop the deal, and the case is now headed to court following a pre-trial hearing earlier this month.
Bloomberg reported that “Google and Nvidia provided information that backs a key FTC contention,” which is that Microsoft would claim an unfair advantage specifically in the areas of mobile gaming, subscriptions, and the cloud.
The report goes on to say that Nvidia told the FTC that there is a “need for equal and open access” to games. The company does not, however, directly oppose the deal, the report said.
Google runs the massively popular Google Play store for mobile games and tried its hand at a streaming service with Stadia; it is shutting down on January 18. Nvidia, meanwhile, makes GPUs and has its own streaming service, GeForce Now.
Microsoft is trying to buy Activision Blizzard, in part, to help get a foothold in the mobile games space. Microsoft doesn’t have much of a presence in the mobile game space currently, but if its deal for Activision Blizzard goes through, it would take ownership of Candy Crush, Call of Duty Mobile, Diablo Immortal, and every other Activision Blizzard mobile game.
Google and Nvidia join Sony in raising concerns about Microsoft’s attempt to buy Activision Blizzard. Sony’s PlayStation division competes with Microsoft’s Xbox, and specifically, Sony has raised concerns about the possibility of Activision’s Call of Duty series becoming exclusive to Xbox. Microsoft has said this will not happen, and has offered Sony a 10-year deal for Call of Duty.
Making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox would be a “disastrous” business decision, Microsoft has said.
Microsoft’s buyout of Activision Blizzard has already been approved in places like Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia, but it’s having a much tougher time getting finalized in the US and UK. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
