Microsoft boss has ‘huge confidence’ in buying game giant Activision

Microsoft’s president said the company still believed strongly in its case to buy gaming giant Activision Blizzard after intervention by the United States and European Union. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: Microsoft’s president said the company still believed strongly in its case to buy gaming giant Activision Blizzard after intervention by the United States and European Union.

“We have huge confidence in our case,” Microsoft president Brad Smith told AFP on Dec 13.

The US Federal Trade Commission sued last week to block the US$69bil buyout of the maker of the blockbuster Call Of Duty and Candy Crush games.

The European Union has launched a probe into whether the deal would make popular games exclusive to Microsoft, the maker of the Xbox console.

But Smith noted that rival Sony had a larger share of the game console market with its PlayStation and said Microsoft would make titles available on both machines.

“If you really ask what will promote competition, what will bring more opportunities both for game developers and gamers, we strongly believe that this kind of acquisition where we have more first-party titles and are committed to making them available for on Sony PlayStation for the next decade, is good for competition, good for consumers,” Smith said.

“So I feel good about our prospects going to an administrative law judge.”

Smith was speaking at a US-Africa summit in Washington where Microsoft unveiled plans to use satellite technology to bring Internet to millions of Africans who are off the grid. – AFP