As tipped by ChannelNews, Sony Group expects Activision Blizzard games to still be available for PlayStation owners after Microsoft moved to acquire the Company for A$96 billion.
“We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” a Sony spokesman told the Wall Street Journal last night.
Analysts believe that by restricting Activision content to competitors Microsoft will face problems with the US Justice Department’s antitrust regulators.
The Justice Department is tipped to launch a probe into the acquisition which is being described as one of the biggest tech deals of all times.
DOJ antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter is already facing questions about his role in a possible investigation because of his previous work for Microsoft were spent more than a decade as a legal advisor and lobbyist on regulatory issues for the big software Company.
The US Justice Department has handled most major Microsoft mergers in the past, including approving its $20 billion deal last year to buy artificial intelligence maker Nuance and its $26 billion acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016.
The other potential US Federal Government investigator of the deal is the US Federal Trade Commission,
The FTC, has handled video game mergers, including approving Activision-Blizzard’s 2015 acquisition of King Digital, maker of Candy Crush.
If the agencies can’t agree on who should handle a merger, they will literally flip a coin to decide, the sources said.
The FTC is generally perceived as harsher than the Justice Department, so Microsoft is likely hoping that the DOJ will handle the probe — even if Kanter is forced to recuse himself, according to former regulators.
It’s also been revealed that Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will walk away with a $536 million payout as a result of Microsoft’s acquisition of his gaming company.
Two months ago, some employees demanded his firing over the firm’s alleged culture of sexual misconduct.
Kotick, 58, who is expected to leave Activision-Blizzard after the deal is completed sometime next year, has agreed to sell his company to Microsoft in an all-cash deal valued at $96 billion.
The vast majority of his A$536 million payout will come from the 3.95 million shares that he owns, according to securities filings.
So far Microsoft hasn’t yet detailed how it plans to leverage Activision’s content and games line up in its broader entertainment strategy, though Xbox chief Phil Spencer said as part of the announcement that “Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward.”
