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Tag: iab-video gaming

  • Damar Hamlin tweets he will watch Bills playoff game from home | CNN

    Damar Hamlin tweets he will watch Bills playoff game from home | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin tweeted Sunday that he will be watching from home as the Bills open their playoff campaign against the Miami Dolphins in Orchard Park, New York.

    “My heart is with my guys as they compete today!” Hamlin tweeted. “Supporting from home as I focus on my recovery. Nothing I want more than to be out there with them! LFG #BillsMafia”

    The tweet comes a day after Hamlin reportedly visited the team’s facility at Orchard Park in New York, according to ESPN and the Associated Press.

    The daughter of Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, Brooke, wrote on Twitter that Hamlin was at practice.

    “I saw Damar today & bawled my eyes out! What a miracle to see him walking. We are blessed!,” she wrote. “More prayers are needed! It was a beautiful moment for the guys!”

    Hamlin was seen smiling while greeting another person not on camera in a photo posted on Instagram by Bills linebacker Matt Milano.

    Neither Hamlin’s representatives nor the Bills have responded to CNN’s request for comment.

    The 24-year-old was discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center on Wednesday after spending more than a week hospitalized after suffering an on-field cardiac arrest during a road game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2.

    Hamlin was initially hospitalized in Cincinnati but was transferred to the Buffalo facility Monday after doctors determined his critical condition had improved enough for the move.

    The Bills are scheduled to play the Miami Dolphins in the NFL Wild Card round Sunday.

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  • Video gamers sue Microsoft in US court to stop Activision takeover | CNN Business

    Video gamers sue Microsoft in US court to stop Activision takeover | CNN Business

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    Reuters
     — 

    Microsoft Corp was hit on Tuesday in US court with a private consumer lawsuit claiming the technology company’s $69 billion bid to purchase “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard Inc will unlawfully squelch competition in the video game industry.

    The complaint filed in federal court in California comes about two weeks after the US Federal Trade Commission filed a case with an administrative law judge seeking to stop Microsoft, owner of the Xbox console, from completing the largest-ever acquisition in the video-gaming market.

    The private lawsuit also seeks an order blocking Microsoft from acquiring Activision. It was filed on behalf of 10 video game players in California, New Mexico and New Jersey.

    The proposed acquisition would give Microsoft “far-outsized market power in the video game industry,” the complaint alleged, “with the ability to foreclose rivals, limit output, reduce consumer choice, raise prices, and further inhibit competition.”

    A representative for Microsoft did not immediately comment on Tuesday. After the FTC sued, Microsoft President Brad Smith said, “We have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court.”

    In a statement, plaintiffs’ attorney Joseph Saveri in San Francisco said, “As the video game industry continues to grow and evolve, it’s critical that we protect the market from monopolistic mergers that will harm consumers in the long run.”

    Private plaintiffs can pursue antitrust claims in U.S. court, even while a related U.S. agency case is pending. The takeover, announced in January, also faces antitrust scrutiny in the European Union.

    The FTC previously said it sued to stop “Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio.” The agency said the merger would harm competition among rival gaming platforms from Nintendo Co Ltd and Sony Group Corp.

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  • ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games to pay $520 million in record-breaking FTC settlement | CNN Business

    ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games to pay $520 million in record-breaking FTC settlement | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Epic Games, maker of the hit video game “Fortnite,” has agreed to pay a total of $520 million to settle US government allegations that it misled millions of players, including children and teens, into making unintended purchases and that it violated a landmark federal children’s privacy law.

    As part of the agreement, Epic will pay $275 million to the US government to resolve claims it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by gathering the personal information of kids under the age of 13 without first receiving their parents’ verifiable consent. It is the largest fine the FTC has ever imposed for a rule that it enforces, the agency said Monday.

    In a second and separate settlement, Epic will pay $245 million as refunds to consumers who were allegedly harmed by user-interface design choices the FTC claimed were deceptive. That agreement is the largest administrative order in FTC history, the FTC added.

    In a blog post addressing the twin settlements, Epic said the agreement reflects an evolution in how US laws are applied to the video gaming industry.

    “No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here,” Epic said in the blog post. “We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players.”

    FTC Chair Lina Khan said the settlement reflects the agency’s heightened focus on privacy and so-called “dark patterns,” a term used to describe design elements intended to nudge users toward a company’s preferred result.

    “Protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy invasions and dark patterns is a top priority for the Commission, and these enforcement actions make clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these unlawful practices,” Khan said in a statement.

    The FTC’s complaint and proposed settlement dealing with children’s privacy was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. In addition to the alleged illegal collection of children’s data, the FTC also claimed that Epic’s default settings for matchmaking and in-game communications exposed children to bullying and harassment.

    The allegations of Epic’s deceptive design choices were filed as an FTC administrative complaint. The complaint claims Epic made it extremely easy for children to purchase in-game items with a single click or button press without parental approval, resulting in more than one million parental complaints to Epic about unwanted charges.

    The FTC further alleged that Epic made it more difficult to cancel purchases of in-game items by burying the option at the bottom of the screen and by requiring consumers to push and hold a button on their controllers to complete the cancellation. Those design choices were allegedly implemented after surveys showed that, when the cancel button was more prominently displayed, accidental charges were the “number one ‘reason’” users clicked on the button, the FTC said.

    Epic’s agreement with the FTC, which is not yet final, prohibits the company from using dark patterns or charging consumers without their consent, and also forbids Epic from locking players out of their accounts in response to users’ chargeback requests with credit card companies disputing unwanted charges. The agreement will last for 20 years from the time it is adopted.

    In its blog post, Epic said it has agreed with the FTC to implement a feature that explicitly asks Fortnite users whether to save their payment information for future use. The feature is currently live, it added. The company also recently rolled out a more limited version of “Fortnite” for younger players that allows them to access some features while awaiting parental consent but that restricts chat and purchases.

    The FTC said that as part of its children’s privacy settlement, Epic may no longer enable text and voice chat by default for teenage Fortnite players or those under the age of 13. The company must also establish a comprehensive privacy program and delete the data it allegedly gathered in violation of COPPA.

    “We share the underlying principles of fairness, transparency and privacy that the FTC enforces, and the practices referenced in the FTC’s complaints are not how Fortnite operates,” Epic wrote. “We will continue to be upfront about what players can expect when making purchases, ensure cancellations and refunds are simple, and build safeguards that help keep our ecosystem safe and fun for audiences of all ages.”

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  • Microsoft says it has reached a 10-year deal to bring ‘Call of Duty’ to Nintendo | CNN Business

    Microsoft says it has reached a 10-year deal to bring ‘Call of Duty’ to Nintendo | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN Business
     — 

    Fans of the popular first-person shooter game “Call of Duty” may soon have more options for where they can play it.

    Microsoft said late Tuesday it has reached a 10-year deal to bring the 19-year-old game franchise to Nintendo after its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which makes the game, is completed. The deal is pending regulatory approval.

    The news came one day after Microsoft president Brad Smith wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that the Redmond, Washington-based company offered a 10-year contract for “Call of Duty” to work with Sony’s PlayStation console. (Microsoft reportedly made another offer earlier this year). Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The Nintendo deal is the latest attempt by Microsoft to ease concerns that its blockbuster acquisition of the gaming giant could harm competition in the industry.

    Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard in January in a deal valued at nearly $70 billion, which would be one of the biggest ever in the tech industry. The move could boost Microsoft’s standing in the gaming industry, as its Xbox console trails behind Sony’s PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch.

    Microsoft head of gaming Phil Spencer announced the commitment with Nintendo in a tweet and said it will continue to offer “Call of Duty” on gaming platform Steam if the deal is completed. “Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play,” he said.

    The company’s decision to bring “Call of Duty” to Nintendo comes as Microsoft’s Activision deal faces regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic. The US Federal Trade Commission reportedly plans to sue Microsoft to block the Activision acquisition.

    But Smith this week defended the strategy, saying a block of the deal would be “a huge mistake.”

    “It would hurt competition, consumers and thousands of game developers,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

    He argued that Microsoft faces “huge challenges” in the gaming industry, and the potential acquisition of Activision Blizzard could allow Microsoft to compete against these companies “through innovation that would benefit consumers.”

    Microsoft also wants to offer the option for customers to subscribe to a cloud gaming service that lets them stream a variety of games on multiple devices for a “reasonable” fee, Smith said. The company is open to providing the same commitment to other platforms, which would be legally enforceable by regulators in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

    According to Eric Abbruzzese, an analyst at ABI Research, the effort to open up access to its games shows Microsoft is “scrambling” to overcome regulatory hurdles.

    “If the offer helps the deal finalize, then that is a huge win that flies under the radar with ‘Call of Duty’ in the headlines,” he said. “But offering a single entity for a limited time would not be enough to circumvent regulation, as it is temporary and narrow in scope.”

    “Call of Duty” is arguably the most popular game title today, so the impact to consumers is notable. As of 2020, the game had topped 250 million downloads worldwide, according to data from SensorTower, an analytics firm that tracks app downloads.

    “Nintendo is not a high priority for ‘Call of Duty,’ all things considered – it has done perfectly fine without being on Nintendo recently,” Abbruzzese added. “Keeping it on Steam for the PC market is significant though, and obviously if this offer convinces Sony to accept as well, that’s gigantic.”

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  • Pentagon leak spotlights surprising interplay between gaming and military secrets | CNN Politics

    Pentagon leak spotlights surprising interplay between gaming and military secrets | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The recent leak of classified US documents on social media platform Discord seemingly caught many at the Pentagon by surprise. But it wasn’t the first time that a forum popular with online gamers had hosted military secrets, underlining a major challenge for the US national security establishment and platforms alike.

    As recently as January 2023, someone on a forum for fans of the video game War Thunder reportedly published confidential information on an F-16 fighter jet. That followed reports of at least three other occasions since 2021 when War Thunder fans posted documents on British, French and Chinese tanks. These cases – which Axios also reported on in the context of the Discord leaks – typically involved users boasting of their inside knowledge of military equipment and claiming to want to make the game more realistic.

    Gaijin Entertainment, the company that produces War Thunder, took the posts down after forum moderators flagged them.

    The recent leaks on Discord exposed a shortcoming in how the US government alerts platforms that they are hosting sensitive or classified information, according to Discord’s top lawyer.

    There is currently “no structured process,” for the government to communicate whether documents posted on social media are classified or even authentic, Clint Smith, Discord’s chief legal officer, said in an April 14 statement that described classified military documents as a “significant, complex challenge” for Discord and other platforms.

    The episodes point to vexing challenges for social media platforms like Discord – where 21-year Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira allegedly began posting classified information in December – and the US military, which has used Discord for recruiting.

    Discord and other platforms face a difficult balancing act in giving young gamers the space to be themselves while also detecting when they post illegal content.

    “A lot of these guys find their social circles in these online gaming spaces, and that can be great,” said Jennifer Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies. “But if the culture of the platform shifts to rewarding things that you shouldn’t be doing, it can hard if you’re really invested in that that social group to give that up.”

    Teixeira allegedly posted the documents – which included sensitive US intelligence on the war in Ukraine – to a private Discord chat in an attempt to look after his online friends and keep them informed, one member of the chatroom has claimed.

    The Pentagon is trying to tap into online youth culture without it backfiring spectacularly, as it allegedly did with Teixeira.

    An Air Force Gaming program that allows service members to compete in video game leagues to, according to a Pentagon press release, “build morale and mental health resiliency,” has more than 28,000 members. The top of the Air Force Gaming website includes a link to join the program’s Discord channel.

    There were signs that Pentagon officials were growing wary of information young service members might share on Discord even before news of Teixeira’s alleged leak broke.

    “Don’t post anything in Discord that you wouldn’t want seen by the general public,” reads a pamphlet published by US Army Special Operations Command in March.

    That the warning came as classified documents allegedly shared by Teixeira sat on Discord appears to be entirely a coincidence; many US officials appeared unaware of the leak until news of it broke on April 6.

    “Past incidents show how hard it is to stop these leaks,” said Casey Brooks, an Army veteran and video game fan.

    “This is about maturity and how certain people seek value from interpersonal relationships and approval from peers and the competitive nature that gaming group members bond over,” Brooks told CNN.

    Classified or sensitive documents are also a unique problem for content moderators on social media sites.

    “With porn, you can at least have some kind of AI that will give a rough flag at the beginning that this looks vaguely like porn,” said Golbeck, the University of Maryland professor. “But what looks like a classified document? They’re just documents.”

    As social media platforms like Discord grapple with the challenges of detecting sensitive intelligence leaks online, current and former US officials worry that US adversaries like Russia may see an intelligence gathering opportunity.

    “If it’s not already happening, my guess would be the Russians have assessed that digging around in some of these obscure online forums … could bear fruit,” Holden Triplett, a former FBI official who worked at the US embassy in Moscow, told CNN.

    Though there is no evidence that Teixeira was approached by foreign agents, Triplett said a young generation of online gamers might be a ripe target for recruitment.

    “Ego and excitement have always been strong motivations to spy,” said Triplett, who is founder of security consultancy Trenchcoat Advisors. But the group of Discord users that included Teixeira “seemed particularly indifferent to national security concerns,” which is a vulnerability for the US government, Triplett said.

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  • UK blocks Microsoft takeover of Activision Blizzard | CNN Business

    UK blocks Microsoft takeover of Activision Blizzard | CNN Business

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    London
    CNN
     — 

    The UK antitrust regulator has blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, thwarting one of the tech industry’s biggest deals over concerns it will stifle competition in cloud gaming.

    The Competition and Markets Authority said in a statement Wednesday that it was worried the deal would lead to “reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come.”

    The acquisition would make Microsoft

    (MSFT)     “even stronger” in cloud gaming, a market in which it already holds a 60%-70% share globally, the regulator added.

    Activision Blizzard is one of the world’s biggest video game developers, producing games such as “Call of Duty,” “World of Warcraft,” “Diablo” and “Overwatch.” Microsoft, which sells the Xbox gaming console, offers a video game subscription service called Xbox Game Pass, as well as a cloud-based video game streaming service.

    The deal to combine the businesses has been met with growing opposition by antitrust regulators worldwide. In December, the US Federal Trade Commission sued to block the takeover over similar competition concerns. A hearing is scheduled for August. The European Union is also evaluating the transaction

    Microsoft could seek to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own platforms and then increase the cost of a Game Pass subscription, the Competition and Markets Authority said.

    “The cloud allows UK gamers to avoid buying expensive gaming consoles and PCs and gives them much more flexibility and choice as to how they play. Allowing Microsoft to take such a strong position in the cloud gaming market just as it begins to grow rapidly would risk undermining the innovation that is crucial to the development of these opportunities,” it added.

    “The evidence available… indicates that, absent the merger, Activision would start providing games via cloud platforms in the foreseeable future.”

    Both companies plan to appeal the decision. “Alongside Microsoft, we can and will contest this decision, and we’ve already begun the work to appeal to the UK Competition Appeals Tribunal,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement.

    Microsoft President Brad Smith added: “This decision appears to reflect a flawed understanding of the market and the way the relevant cloud technology actually works.”

    The Competition and Markets Authority, which launched an in-depth review of the blockbuster deal in September, said Microsoft’s proposed remedies to its concerns had “significant shortcomings.”

    “Their proposals… would have replaced competition with ineffective regulation in a new and dynamic market,” explained Martin Coleman, chair of the independent panel of experts conducting the investigation.

    “Microsoft already enjoys a powerful position and head start over other competitors in cloud gaming, and this deal would strengthen that advantage, giving it the ability to undermine new and innovative competitors,” Coleman continued. “Cloud gaming needs a free, competitive market to drive innovation and choice.”

    The UK cloud gaming market is expected to be worth up to £1 billion ($1.2 billion) by 2026, around 9% of the global market, according to the Competition and Markets Authority.

    -— Josh du Lac and Brian Fung contributed reporting.

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  • EU approves Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard | CNN Business

    EU approves Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    European regulators have approved Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, handing the technology giant a victory at a time when the deal is being challenged in other countries.

    While the merger could harm competition in some respects, particularly in the fast-growing market for cloud gaming services, concessions by Microsoft were enough to mitigate antitrust concerns stemming from the deal, the European Commission said in a statement.

    Among Microsoft’s offers were a 10-year commitment letting European consumers play Activision titles on any cloud gaming service. Microsoft also committed that it would not downgrade the quality or content of its games made available on rival streaming platforms.

    “These commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement for cloud game streaming compared to the current situation,” the Commission said.

    The Microsoft deal, which would make the company the third largest game publisher in the world after Tencent and Sony, is being challenged in the United States and the UK.

    In a statement, Microsoft said its commitment on game streaming would go beyond the European Union.

    “The European Commission has required Microsoft to license popular Activision Blizzard games automatically to competing cloud gaming services,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “This will apply globally and will empower millions of consumers worldwide to play these games on any device they choose.”

    Activision CEO Bobby Kotick called the requirements “stringent” and pledged to expand investments in EU workers.

    “Our talented teams in Sweden, Spain, Germany, Romania, Poland and many other European countries have the skills, ambition, and government support needed to compete effectively on a global scale,” Kotick said in a statement. “We expect these teams to grow and prosper given their governments’ firm but pragmatic approach to gaming.”

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  • Microsoft to pay $20 million to settle Xbox Live privacy allegations | CNN Business

    Microsoft to pay $20 million to settle Xbox Live privacy allegations | CNN Business

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Microsoft will pay $20 million to settle US government allegations that the tech giant violated children’s privacy by illegally collecting their personal information through its Xbox Live gaming service.

    According to the Federal Trade Commission, Microsoft broke the law by failing to tell parents about the full breadth of information it gathered from kids under the age of 13.

    That information, the FTC said in a lawsuit filed Monday, included the fact that children may share images of themselves in their account profiles, as well as video and audio recordings of themselves, their real names and logs of their activity on the platform.

    Microsoft also allegedly kept for years the personal information of millions of people, including children, who started creating accounts with Xbox Live but who never completed the sign-up process.

    “Even when a user indicated that they were under 13, they were also asked, until late 2021, to provide additional personal information including a phone number and to agree to Microsoft’s service agreement and advertising policy, which until 2019 included a pre-checked box allowing Microsoft to send promotional messages and to share user data with advertisers,” the FTC said in a release.

    In a statement, Microsoft said: “We recently entered into a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to update our account creation process and resolve a data retention glitch found in our system. We are committed to complying with the order.”

    Parental settings give adults some control over what their children’s accounts show to other users. For example, Xbox Live’s default settings restrict who children can interact with on the service, the FTC said. But other default settings, the agency alleged, allow kids to access third-party games and apps with minimal friction.

    Microsoft failed to sufficiently disclose to parents what information the company was collecting from kids and how it was being used, the FTC said, alleging violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

    In agreeing to settle the claims, Microsoft committed to several additional measures beyond the financial penalty.

    Microsoft agreed to delete any personal information it collects from kids if they don’t complete the account registration process. It also agreed to tell third-party game publishers when a user may be a child, effectively putting the third-party publishers on notice to comply with COPPA in handling the user’s information.

    The settlement comes as the FTC has challenged Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of video game giant Activision-Blizzard, a proposed deal that would turn Microsoft into the world’s third-largest game publisher and give it control over popular franchises such as “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft.”

    US and UK officials have alleged that Microsoft’s acquisition could give it anti-competitive control over the games industry by being able to withhold titles from rival platforms, particularly in the nascent cloud gaming sector. To address the concerns, Microsoft has struck licensing deals with other companies to ensure their customers continue to have access to Activision games following the deal’s close.

    Those concessions have convinced the European Union to approve the deal, but litigation to block the deal involving US and UK regulators remains ongoing.

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  • US judge temporarily blocks Microsoft acquisition of Activision | CNN Business

    US judge temporarily blocks Microsoft acquisition of Activision | CNN Business

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    A US judge late on Tuesday granted the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) request to temporarily block Microsoft Corp’s acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard and set a hearing next week.

    US District Judge Edward Davila scheduled a two-day evidentiary hearing on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction for June 22-23 in San Francisco. Without a court order, Microsoft could have closed on the $69 billion deal as early as Friday.

    The FTC, which enforces antitrust law, asked an administrative judge to block the transaction in early December. An evidential hearing in the administrative proceeding is set to begin Aug. 2.

    Based on the late-June hearing, the federal court will decide whether a preliminary injunction — which would last during the administrative review of the case — is necessary. The FTC sought the temporary block on Monday.

    Davila said the temporary restraining order issued on Tuesday “is necessary to maintain the status quo while the complaint is pending (and) preserve this court’s ability to order effective relief in the event it determines a preliminary injunction is warranted and preserve the FTC’s ability to obtain an effective permanent remedy in the event that it prevails in its pending administrative proceeding.”

    Microsoft

    (MSFT)     and Activision

    (ATVI)     must submit legal arguments opposing a preliminary injunction by June 16; the FTC must reply on June 20.

    Activision, which said Monday the FTC decision to seek a federal court order was “a welcome update and one that accelerates the legal process,” declined to comment Tuesday.

    Microsoft said Tuesday “accelerating the legal process in the U.S will ultimately bring more choice and competition to the gaming market. A temporary restraining order makes sense until we can receive a decision from the court, which is moving swiftly.”

    The FTC declined to comment.

    Davila said the bar on closing will remain in place until at least five days after the court rules on the preliminary injunction request.

    The FTC has argued the transaction would give Microsoft’s video game console Xbox exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Nintendo consoles and Sony Group Corp’s PlayStation out in the cold.

    Microsoft’s bid to acquire the “Call of Duty” video game maker was approved by the EU in May, but British competition authorities blocked the takeover in April.

    Microsoft has said the deal would benefit gamers and gaming companies alike, and has offered to sign a legally binding consent decree with the FTC to provide “Call of Duty” games to rivals including Sony for a decade.

    The case reflects the muscular approach to antitrust enforcement taken by the administration of US President Joe Biden.

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  • Microsoft faces off against US government over Activision deal, with top execs set to testify | CNN Business

    Microsoft faces off against US government over Activision deal, with top execs set to testify | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Microsoft

    (MSFT)     and the video game giant Activision Blizzard

    (ATVI)     will face off Thursday against the US government in a high-stakes battle over one of the largest technology acquisitions in history.

    The showdown in federal court will have the CEOs of both companies taking the stand to defend their $69 billion merger against claims that the combination could violate US antitrust law and harm millions of consumers.

    The outcome of the fight will shape the future of the multibillion-dollar games industry. It will also impact enormously popular gaming franchises such as “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft,” which Activision owns and would be transferred to Microsoft under the deal.

    Also testifying will be the top financial executives from both companies; senior leaders from Microsoft’s Xbox division; the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer; and a vocal critic of the deal, Sony gaming CEO Jim Ryan.

    The days-long affair begins Thursday and is scheduled to run through next week.

    In bringing the case, the Federal Trade Commission is asking a US district court judge for an injunction that would temporarily halt the deal. That would keep the companies from closing their merger, at least until the FTC’s in-house court rules in a separate proceeding on whether the acquisition is anticompetitive.

    But this week’s fight over a preliminary injunction may prove decisive for the deal as a whole. Microsoft has said that a victory for the FTC at this stage “will effectively block the transaction” overall.

    In this hearing, the FTC does not need to prove that the deal is anticompetitive. It just needs to show that the agency would be likely to succeed in doing so if the case moves ahead, and that otherwise its ability to enforce US antitrust law would be harmed.

    The clash comes as Microsoft and Activision face down a contractual July 18 deadline to consummate the deal. Failure to close, or any permanent court order to block the merger, could force Microsoft to pay a $3 billion breakup fee to Activision, according to the deal’s terms.

    The FTC lawsuit has put Microsoft under the harshest antitrust scrutiny in the US in more than two decades. It also could be a crucial test for the FTC at a time when it’s trying to rein in the tech industry broadly, with mixed success.

    In its initial challenge to the merger in its in-house court last year, the FTC alleged the deal would harm competition by turning Microsoft into the world’s third-largest video game publisher — allowing it to raise video game prices with impunity, restrict Activision titles from rival platforms and harm game quality and player experiences on consoles and gaming services.

    Some of those concerns have also been raised internationally. The UK government has challenged the acquisition, and the New Zealand government on Tuesday warned that the deal could be anticompetitive.

    Microsoft has sought to address the concerns by hammering out multi-year licensing agreements with competitors such as Nintendo and Nvidia to ensure that their platforms will continue to receive popular titles if the deal goes through.

    The company has also put forth an 11-point pledge to keep its platforms open, a commitment that applies not only to the Activision Blizzard deal but to virtually all of Microsoft’s gaming business going forward.

    Last month, Microsoft said the European Union would require it to license Activision games “automatically” to competing cloud gaming services as a condition of allowing the merger to proceed in the EU. That commitment, Microsoft said, “will apply globally and will empower millions of consumers worldwide to play these games on any device they choose.”

    Although EU regulators have said the concession addresses their concerns, officials in the US and the UK are continuing with their legal opposition to the deal.

    The standoff particularly focuses attention on FTC Chair Lina Khan, a tech industry critic who has argued for litigating difficult cases and for introducing novel legal theories to help adapt US antitrust law to the digital age.

    Khan won a significant victory last year when the FTC forced Nvidia to abandon its attempted acquisition of the chipmaker Arm. The deal would have combined two companies in adjacent industries in what is known as a vertical merger, a type of deal that is rarely blocked in the United States.

    But Khan also suffered a setback when the FTC unsuccessfully tried to block Facebook-parent Meta from acquiring Within Unlimited, a virtual reality startup. The FTC had argued that the acquisition was an attempt by Meta to quash competition in the nascent VR industry, but earlier this year, a federal judge declined to issue a preliminary injunction of the kind the FTC now seeks against Microsoft. The FTC dropped its case against Meta soon after.

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  • Call of Duty to remain on Playstation following Activision Blizzard Microsoft merger | CNN Business

    Call of Duty to remain on Playstation following Activision Blizzard Microsoft merger | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Microsoft

    (MSFT)     has signed an agreement with Sony

    (SNE)     to ensure “Call of Duty” remains available on PlayStation after Microsoft

    (MSFT)     closes its $69 billion Activision Blizzard

    (ATVI)     merger, the tech giant said Sunday.

    The agreement could resolve long-standing complaints by Sony that the merger — which aims to make Microsoft the third-largest video game publisher in the world — threatens competition. Sony didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    “We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and @PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” said Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s Xbox head, in a tweet. “We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games.”

    Sony had been among the loudest critics of the acquisition. Addressing the company’s concerns about the continued availability of “Call of Duty,” one of the industry’s most popular franchises, could help Microsoft overcome any remaining opposition to the deal and usher it to a conclusion.

    In response to competition concerns from regulators around the world, Microsoft had already signed multiyear licensing agreements with rival companies including Nintendo and Nvidia, among others, to ensure Microsoft would not be able to restrict Activision titles from users of those businesses’ platforms and consoles.

    On Sunday, Microsoft did not disclose the duration of the agreement with Sony.

    “From Day One of this acquisition, we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith in a tweet. “Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.”

    During a five-day hearing last month in federal court, Microsoft executives including CEO Satya Nadella testified properties such as “Call of Duty” would not be restricted from competitors following the deal’s close.

    Last week, US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley wrote in her opinion the US government had “not shown it is likely to succeed on its assertion the combined firm will probably pull Call of Duty from Sony PlayStation, or that its ownership of Activision content will substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets.”

    Microsoft faces a contractual deadline of July 18 to close the merger with Activision, though the companies could mutually seek to extend that time frame.

    Last week, Microsoft won two successive court victories when a federal district court and a US appeals court declined to temporarily block the merger from being consummated. The Federal Trade Commission had argued a preliminary injunction was necessary to prevent video game consumers from being immediately harmed by the deal, which regulators said would enable Microsoft to withhold “Call of Duty” and other popular titles from competing consoles and cloud gaming services.

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