Google and Nvidia raise concerns over Microsoft’s $69bn Activision Blizzard acquisition

Alphabet-owned Google and leading graphics card company Nvidia are the latest big tech firms in the gaming space to raise concerns to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

According to Bloomberg, the companies have joined Sony in expressing concerns over the deal which would see the Xbox console maker acquire household gaming names like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

The FTC sued to block the deal in December, and has scheduled an in-house trial for August. It has argued that the deal would hinder competition in the videogames industry. Both Google and Nvidia could be called to testify as part of the trial.

The report notes that the pair provided information backing the FTC’s main point of contention that Microsoft could gain an unfair advantage in cloud, subscription and mobile gaming. It adds that Nvidia did not oppose the deal, but that it stressed the need for equal and open access to game titles.

Nvidia is directly in competition with Microsoft in the cloud gaming space – an arena in which Google also operated its short-lived Stadia service. Nvidia’s GeForce Now, which allows gamers to stream PC titles they own to a range of devices, currently has around 20 million subscribers. Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service, which features cloud gaming as part of its premium offering, has more than 25 million.

Google’s concerns are likely centred around the mobile gaming space, with its Android mobile system serving as a major gaming platform. Activision Blizzard also owns Candy Crush Saga developer King, while it also operates other high-profile mobile games like Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty: Mobile.

For Microsoft’s part, it has promised to keep producing titles in the Call of Duty franchise for PlayStation consoles for at least a decade, while also saying that it would look to expand the franchise to Nintendo consoles after an absence of more than a decade.

Microsoft has also gone on the offensive against its detractors, arguing that regulators are giving too much weight to concerns raised by Sony. In its own filings, Microsoft argued that the PlayStation maker’s concerns are ‘self-serving’ and overstate the importance of Activision Blizzard’s library.

The deal would represent a record acquisition in the tech space, eclipsing Dell and equity firm Silver Lake's $67 billion acquisition of EMC in 2015. It would also be more than double Microsoft's $26.2 billion 2016 takeover of professional social networking platform Linkedin.

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