Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard is being looked into by numerous regulatory agencies from around the world, but one Xbox executive has said that the transaction is legal due to PlayStation’s monopoly on the console market.
Brad Smith, the vice chairman and president of Microsoft, reportedly made the declaration at the annual shareholders meeting.
The FTC’s case is based on a market they’ve defined, according to which Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox have two companies and two products in it, Smith said. “Sony controls 70% of the entire market, while we own the remaining 30%. Therefore, the judge will need to first determine whether the FTC complaint will foster competition or whether it will instead serve to insulate the greatest competitor from it.
Smith also brings up the number of exclusive games PlayStation has released in comparison to Xbox. Citing 286 PlayStation-exclusive games as opposed to 59 Xbox-exclusive releases, Smith states that he doesn’t believe 59 becoming 60 is a danger to competition.
“So the administrative law judge is going to have to decide whether going from 59 to 60 is such a danger to competition that he should stop this from moving forward,” said Smith.
The US Federal Trade Commission recently announced that it is suing Microsoft to block its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
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