Microsoft has officially responded to the FTC lawsuit regarding the purchase of Activision Blizzard

Of course, Microsoft is fully confident that it will be able to complete a truly historic acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one of the largest game developers. However, such a large deal could not go unnoticed by the antimonopoly authorities around the world, and it is far from certain that it will be approved.

A couple of weeks ago it became known that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is filing a lawsuit demanding that Microsoft be banned from purchasing Activision Blizzard. Apparently, the decision was made due to the fact that Bethesda’s Starfield and Redfall games will be Xbox and Windows exclusives. The commission believes that Microsoft’s claims cannot be trusted and eventually some Activision games will also become Xbox exclusives.

In return, Microsoft acknowledged that three future Bethesda titles (one of which has yet to be announced) will be Xbox and Windows PC exclusives, but also noted continued support for cross-platform titles such as Fallout 76, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Minecraft.

Excerpts from Microsoft’s response to the FTC lawsuit:

• “Providing high-quality content to consumers in more ways and at lower prices is something antitrust laws should encourage, not discourage.”
• “Microsoft is buying Activision to connect with the billions of gamers who prefer to play on mobile devices rather than consoles or PCs, and to learn how to create games that will be interesting and exciting for them.”
• “Xbox is also committed to making non-mobile Activision games more accessible.”
• “A few companies, mostly located abroad, have a huge impact on the industry. Xbox is not one of them. Xbox consoles are far behind the Sony and Nintendo consoles. Although Xbox publishes games for consoles and PC, it has far fewer popular exclusive games than Sony and Nintendo. In addition, Xbox has little to no presence in the mobile gaming segment, which is the largest and fastest growing segment of the gaming industry.”
• “In addition to direct exclusive content, Sony has also entered into agreements with third-party publishers that require Xbox to be ‘excluded’ from the platforms on which these publishers can distribute their games. Notable examples of such agreements include Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix), Bloodborne (From Software), the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix), and the recently announced Silent Hill 2 remastered (Bloober team).”