Microsoft will make a last-ditch effort to defend its $69 billion bid for "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard in front of EU and national antitrust officials at a closed hearing on February 21, the U.S. software company said on Tuesday.
The company asked for the hearing after receiving a
statement of objections from the European Commission warning about the possible
anti-competitive effects of the deal.
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the oral hearing.
The Xbox maker announced the Activision Blizzard acquisition
in January last year to help it compete better with leaders Tencent and Sony,
but has run into regulatory headwinds in Europe, Britain and the United States.
Microsoft is expected to offer remedies after the hearing.
It has reached a 10-year deal with Nintendo to make
"Call of Duty" available on Nintendo consoles, a remedy aimed at
convincing competition enforcers but which has been criticised by Sony, which
wants the deal to be blocked.
Last month, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan met EU antitrust chief
Margrethe Vestager to discuss Microsoft's bid for Activision Blizzard.
The US Federal Trade Commission has sued to block the deal
while UK regulators have also expressed concerns, arguing it would give
Microsoft's Xbox exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Nintendo
consoles and Sony's PlayStation out in the cold.
An earlier report suggested that Microsoft argued that the
deal would benefit gamers and gaming companies alike, offering to sign a
legally binding consent decree with the FTC to provide Call of Duty games to
rivals including Sony for a decade.
Michael Chappell, the FTC administrative law judge, will
rule on the deal after hearings set for August 2023.
The deal currently faces scrutiny in the European Union
which is to decide by March 23 whether to clear or block the deal. © Reuters