“
There was a time when an acquisition that made you the third player in a market did not alarm the competition authorities.
But we know that today, any large takeover operation launched by a major tech player is watched with much more attention
, ”acknowledged Microsoft President Brad Smith at a press conference.
The American group announced in January its intention to buy the video game giant Activision-Blizzard for 69 billion dollars.
This operation "
will be studied by the authorities of 17 countries
", and in depth by Washington, Brussels, "
and probably London and Canberra
", he adds.
Microsoft therefore engages in an operation of seduction and reveals a whole series of commitments.
Microsoft promises that the
Call of Duty
saga , as well as “
all popular Activision-Blizzard licenses
”, will continue to be marketed on PlayStation consoles “
and we would like to do the same on Nintendo platforms.
» Brad Smith says «
that we are not interested in making this content exclusive, quite the contrary.
»
Read alsoMicrosoft buys video game publisher Activision (
Call of Duty, Candy Crush
) for 69 billion dollars
Commitments that embrace future legislation
The American group has also published commitments on the policy of its Microsoft Store application store.
The data collected on the Store will not be used in favor of Microsoft services, the latter will not be promoted more than those of the competition, developers will no longer be forced to use Microsoft's payment system and therefore submit to its commissions... The list is very similar to the rules that regulators in Europe and the United States want to put in place in order to restore competition in the world of applications.
“
We prefer to be responsible and adapt to future regulations rather than fight them
,” says Brad Smith.
Microsoft thus differentiates itself from Apple and Google, which oppose the regulation of application stores.
However, Microsoft's commitments will not fully apply to its Xbox Series console: game developers will not be able to go through a third-party payment system.
Microsoft takes 30% commission on purchases made on its game console.
He argues that the economic model of consoles is different from that of smartphones.
Game consoles are sold at a loss, and their manufacturers make up for it with the sale of games and services.
However, Microsoft says it will work in the future on the arrival of new payment systems on its Xbox.
But by then, the competition authorities will surely have made their decision on the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard.
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