NOT A SINGLE REPLY SAID THAT THE DEAL SHOULD BE BLOCKED.
The opinions of six developer studios have been published by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and they all support Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Only one of the six studios that responded, 4J Studios, the Scottish developer behind Minecraft’s console releases, was named.
Chris van der Kuyl, the chairman and co-founder of 4J, remarked that the company was in the exceptional situation of operating not just as a partner of Microsoft but also as a partner of Mojang since before it was acquired by Microsoft.
Van der Kuyl said, Over that time, which spanned several years, Microsoft has honoured every aspect of the agreements that they inherited and also considerably expanded our connection to embrace new platforms, including Nintendo Switch, as well as many other content additions.
“We believe that consumers’ tastes and preferences in the video gaming industry cut across a broad range of games and a wide number of genres and platforms,” the second studio, which chooses to remain nameless, said.
As a result, we don’t think any title can be deemed a “must have” in the market for interactive entertainment. We don’t think the planned acquisition would have a bad effect on customers given this dynamic and Microsoft’s stated commitment to making some games available across all platforms.
The CEO of an independent game developer who has “worked with most of the top game publishers including Sony, Microsoft, and Activision” provided the third comment.
In the 25 years they have worked with the corporation, they asserted that Microsoft has always honored its agreements and commitments, and also mentioned the Chinese company Tencent as an Activision investor.
“Would Tencent be a better choice to acquire Activision if Microsoft’s acquisition of the company is prevented?” They questioned, implying that if Tencent attempted to acquire the publisher, it would be less vulnerable to Western oversight.
The fourth anonymous response was provided by “a developer and publisher of AAA titles whose games are released on all major consoles,” who claimed that given the intricacy of the issue, it is “impossible to forecast [the] exact implications” of the acquisition.
“We do not, however, expect any significant impact of the merger on our company nor distribution of our own products,” it said, adding: “In particular, we do not expect the Merger to pose any risks to the distribution of our own games on Xbox or other consoles.”
A company that claims to publish games on several platforms, including Xbox and PlayStation, provided the fifth response. They said, “On PlayStation, we’ve noticed our sales stagnating with each release.
“This is mainly due to the fact that, despite PlayStation having the lion’s share of player numbers and console sales, that share is mainly provided to larger titles from huge publishing labels, and/or developers and publishers who are willing to spend lots of money on paid marketing within the PlayStation console.
“On Xbox, the opposite has come true over the last several years. There are numerous means of players finding your game on Xbox, including in special sections on the store, and through the Xbox Game Pass service.
“As a result, we’ve found that, despite Xbox having much smaller player numbers and console sales than PlayStation, our games sell just as well on Xbox, since more players are finding our games there.”
“The acquisition will not overnight make Xbox the dominant platform,” it said in its conclusion. It is much more likely that it will contribute to leveling the playing field between Xbox and PlayStation, which is desperately needed right now.
This will undoubtedly assist in forcing PlayStation to raise its game by providing better competition.
Further Reading
The final anonymous response said it “honestly found the arguments against this acquisition to be slightly exaggerated and out of proportion”.
“We are worried that actual real competition and more innovative consumer friendly initiatives could be potentially hindered by blocking this, by potential market leaders/competitors, who might not be ready or might believe in a different strategy, or just not compelled to change their status quo on the market,” it wrote.
Referring to Activision Blizzard’s ongoing harassment allegations, it added: “While we do not want to point fingers at anyone’s struggle to create and maintain a good culture for employees, as this is challenging for any company and has always been, we do see that a change in ‘scenery’ with a new home at MS might be good for some of our colleagues working in the studios on the various projects.”
