Why Does Microsoft Sound Like It’s Down On Activision-Blizzard?

Believe it or not, Microsoft isn’t all that impressed with Activision-Blizzard. At least, that’s what the company told officials from New Zealand.

As part of a recent attempt to get Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard approved, the company was asked to present documents regarding the merger to New Zealand’s Business Acquisitions and Authorizations Commerce Commission. In the document presented, Microsoft said that Activision-Blizzard doesn’t produce any “must have” video games. As a result, the organization should be allowed to move forward with its almost $70 billion acquisition of the video game giant.

“The vast majority of games are developed and published by parties other than Activision-Blizzard, such as Sony, Nintendo, EA, and Take-Two,” the document reads. “Specifically, with respect to Activision-Blizzard video games, there is nothing unique about the video games developed and published by Activision-Blizzard. There are no must-haves for rival PC and console video game distributors that could give rise to a foreclosure.”

Ouch. Those are harsh words for a company willing to spend almost $70 billion to acquire an organization that doesn’t make any “must-have” games.

However, as TheGamer puts it, this statement is intended for regulators who may not understand the gaming market and need to be made aware of the impact- or lack thereof- that Activision-Blizzard has on the video game space. Still, this is a pretty surprising statement when you think about how much money Microsoft wants to put into obtaining the organization.

The Profit‘s Take:

This headline is obviously clickbait. They are trying to alleviate fears that this acquisition could threaten the gaming industry. They’re making this argument because they want the merger to go through. But, I doubt there is any sincerity behind this argument. This could be counter-productive in a way. The merger may get approved, but this could potentially turn off less knowledgeable shareholders. Just because the product isn’t unique, it doesn’t make the product worthless.

(All information was provided by TheGamer)