Google and Nvidia have joined Sony in expressing concern about Microsoft's plan to acquire Activision Blizzard

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen Brother Black fly's left hand clue delivery! January 13 news, according to foreign media reports, Sony has been arguing that Microsoft's proposal to acquire Activision Blizzard is anti-competitive and should be blocked. Today, Google and Nvidia are the latest two companies to try to block the deal.

According to foreign media reports, Google and Nvidia have joined Sony in expressing concern about Microsoft's plan to acquire Activision Blizzard. The two companies have provided the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with information to support one of its key arguments that such an acquisition would hurt competition in the gaming industry.

It is reported that Microsoft announced in January 2022 that it would buy Activision Blizzard for $95 per share, with a total price of $68.7 billion (about 463.038 billion yuan), which is expected to be completed in fiscal year 2023 (July 2022-June 2023).

However, the deal raised concerns among regulators. FTC is understood to have filed an antitrust lawsuit to try to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard on the grounds that the deal would give Microsoft an unfair advantage in key emerging areas of the gaming industry. It is reported that the case has entered the court stage after the preliminary hearing earlier this month.

Foreign media said that Microsoft has formally questioned the lawsuit and believes that the deal is fundamentally conducive to competition because it increases competition.

According to foreign media reports, FTC Administrative Law Judge Michael Chapel (Michael Chappell) will rule on the deal after a hearing in August 2023.

If the deal succeeds, Sony will be one of the major companies affected. Sony's PlayStation division is a competitor to Microsoft Xbox, and Sony is concerned that Activision Blizzard's call of Duty series could become Xbox's exclusive game.

But Microsoft said that would not happen and proposed a 10-year licensing agreement with Sony that would allow every new call of Duty game to launch on Sony's PlayStation platform on the same day as Xbox.

In addition, according to sources, the proposal also includes allowing Sony to sell call of Duty games through its PlayStation Plus subscription service. So far, Sony has not accepted the offer and is still opposing the deal.