Microsoft Signs 10-Year Call Of Duty Deal With Nintendo Amid Activision Buyout Pushback – SlashGear

In January 2022, Microsoft’s Xbox division announced a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. This acquisition would bring titles like “Call of Duty,” “Diablo,” “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,” and others under the umbrella of Microsoft’s game development and publishing arm. It also means that Microsoft wouldn’t be required to pay for licensing of future games in these series while others in the arena would. Specifically, in order to keep “Call of Duty” and others coming out on PlayStation, Sony would be required to secure deals with Microsoft — a direct competitor in the gaming console space.

This acquisition-merger was challenged in December 2022 by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission after a three-to-one vote to go ahead with the complaint, as reported by the Associated Press. “Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals. Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets,” Holly Vedova announced in a prepared statement from the FTC.

By signing a deal with Nintendo, Microsoft may be able to assuage concerns over potential future anti-trust issues within the gaming world. However, this appears to be the first major challenge of the administration’s effort to thwart mergers within the technology sphere that can result in consumer harm. After the Ticketmaster debacles with Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, it makes sense.