Microsoft says it will not break up and sell Activision Blizzard

MICROSOFT has claimed that it will not be breaking down the Call of Duty publisher if its proposed acquisition goes through.

Activision Blizzard is one of the world’s biggest publishers, consisting of a large number of studios and popular gaming series.

Activision Blizzard also owns Candy Crush.

The publisher accepted a deal from Microsoft to be purchased for almost $70billion (£58billion).

However, the deal is fighting commissions around the world over fears that the acquisition will cause a monopoly in the gaming industry.

The biggest pushback comes from Sony, as it fears that Xbox could gain popularity over PlayStation with the deal.

Microsoft appeared before the European Commission in Brussels to fight the claims that it will dominate the industry.

The company brought figures that show that Microsoft has just a 20% share of the industry in Europe, and a 30% share worldwide.

Sony has been trying to block the deal, with Microsoft claiming the company is trying to “protect its two-decade dominance in video games”.

When the commission asked Microsoft president Brad Smith if he had plans to split and sell off parts of the publisher, he denied it.

Smith said: “We don’t think it’s realistic that one part of this company can be carved out from the rest”.

Microsoft has been known in the past to purchase studios and then drastically change the work the company is doing.

This was seen with British company Rare, which produced popular games such as Donkey Kong and Banjo Kazooie in the Nintendo 64 era.

After Microsoft purchased the studio, it was put onto developing for the Xbox Kinect and major employees at the studio left.

Microsoft has denied that it will sell off parts of Activision Blizzard, which publishes major series such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Candy Crush.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.

 

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