Last November, the European Commission announced that it has opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. EC was concerned that the proposed acquisition may reduce competition in the markets for the distribution of console and PC games. In January this year, the European Commission sent Statement of Objections to Microsoft.
In order to get approval from regulatory bodies like the European Commission, Microsoft last month announced two partnerships with Nintendo and NVIDIA.
- Microsoft signed a 10-year legal agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms
- Microsoft also announced that it will bring Xbox PC games to the NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming service
Following these announcements, Nintendo and NVIDIA announced that they support Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Today, Reuters reported that the European Commission is likely to approve Microsoft’s acquisition without any conditions. There were some reports that the European Commission may force Microsoft to sell assets to win its approval, but it is not going to happen according to the latest report from Reuters.
“Our commitment to grant long term 100% equal access to  Call of Duty to Sony, Steam,  NVIDIA and others  preserves the deal’s benefits to gamers and developers and increases competition in the market.” – Microsoft spokesperson
The European Commission is scheduled to decide on the deal by April 25.
