Microsoft's Activision deal reportedly gains support from European developer federation

The European Games Developer Federation has reportedly weighed in on Microsoft's proposed Activision Blizzard deal, saying it "welcomes" the European Commission's investigation but "supports" the acquisition.

The European Games Developer Federation (EGDF) has reportedly entered the discussion around Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard to say it both "welcomes" the European Commission's investigation of the deal, adding that it believes Microsoft has not always "consistently respected assurances" it has made about having its games be available on other platforms, but that it "supports" Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition.

User Idas shared a post over on ResetEra citing mlex as reporting that the EGDF supports the acquisition, with the bulk of the text purporting to be of the EGDF's official statement. The statement reads that the EGDF "acknowledges that Microsoft has the ability for anti-competitive market behaviour and has not in the past consistently respected assurances it has given to continue making games published by companies that it has acquired available on rival platforms. EGDF, therefore, welcomes the European Commission's in-depth investigation of competition concerns arising from Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition."

It goes on to add, however, that "EGDF supports Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition, as its potential positive impacts on the competition in game markets, in general, outweigh the limited console and subscription market-specific competition concerns." EGDF also says that "in the console game markets, Sony is a clear market leader with its PlayStation platform," while Microsoft is "still in a challenger position."

EGDF reportedly shares further arguments, such as how Microsoft's acquisition "allows it to challenge Apple and Google as dominant mobile game market application stores," adding, "The acquisition gives Microsoft the means to challenge Apple in emerging cloud gaming / game subscription service markets. Microsoft is the first gatekeeper platform to build a successful cross-platform cloud gaming/subscription ecosystem. After Google killed its own subscription service, Stadia, it is crucial to have a strong competitor in the markets challenging Apple's market position."

EGDF's statement also appears to call on Microsoft to take certain actions, including to "continue its investment in cross-platform game development and make its games widely available on all platforms," as well as to "break the console market triopoly and compete on content by lowering its 30% platform fee on Xbox." What's more, the Federation also asks the European Commission to "closely monitor how Microsoft implements DMA on its Windows operating system and cross-platform Microsoft Store and ensure that, should it condition its approval of the Activision Blizzard acquisition on commitments given by Microsoft, those commitments, for example, guarantee the continued availability of Activision Blizzard games on rival consoles and subscription services, are backed up with rigorous compliance and enforcement mechanisms."

EGDF's reported statement appears to succinctly summarise why it seems to support the deal. "Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition strengthens the competition benefits for global game markets. EGDF supports fair and sustainable competition in game markets. In particular, EGDF has been concerned about the recent consolidation of the global games industry. The more there are equally strong competing market players, the better for European game developers."

What do you make of this reported statement? Let us know in the comments!