It looks like Microsoft has already begun testing waters beforehand, anyway. The Washington Post quoted US Congressman Ken Buck saying that the Seattle-based tech giant has already provided what he described as encouraging assurances on the matter. Ken Buck, a lawyer by trade and a politician elected to represent Colorado’s 4th congressional district in the lower house of Congress as a Republican, is considered one of the foremost antitrust enforcement proponents in his Party. To have his early approval certainly means something, even though it’ll still be far from smooth sailing for Microsoft. For example, Alex Harman, a competition policy advocate for Public Citizen, stated: Krista Brown, a senior policy analyst for the anti-monopoly group American Economic Liberties Project, added: For his part, Microsoft’s Head of Gaming Phil Spencer highlighted the exceedingly competitive market in the gaming industry. Going back to Buck’s quote, it’s yet another indication that Microsoft may well avoid securing all Activision Blizzard as exclusives for its platforms, as pointed out by rumors and official sources alike, not to mention suggested by analysts. Such a move could prove instrumental in passing the scrutiny of regulators, as it would show them that massive games like the behemoth Call of Duty will still be available on platforms not owned or controlled by Microsoft. According to sources cited by the New York Post, it is presently unclear whether the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission will handle the merger. Ordinarily, it would fall under the DOJ’s purview, but Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter previously worked as a legal advisor for Microsoft for more than a decade. This could force Kanter to recuse himself, though that doesn’t necessarily mean the deal would be handled by the FTC (usually perceived as comparatively harsher in the review work) instead. As a reminder, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are hoping to close the deal by June 2023. If it doesn’t go through, Microsoft will have to pay Activision Blizzard between 2 and 3 billion dollars under the agreed terms.
