To support the FTC’s proceeding in the United States, Nvidia and Google have reportedly expressed their concerns, perhaps more legitimate than Sony’s.
The proposed Activision-Blizzard acquisition was announced by Microsoft almost a year ago. Since then, the firm has sought to have this $68.7 billion agreement accepted by the competition authorities. If several countries have accepted the thing, it is not the case of the United States FTC that decided to sue Microsoft to block the takeover bid.
Until then, only the FTC and Sony had publicly expressed their opposition to this acquisition project, while Microsoft had managed to pocket the syndicates and the Nintendo and Steam couple.
now the media Bloomberg reports that Nvidia and Google want to voice their concerns about this proposed acquisition. Two witnesses that could be much more relevant than Sony’s oppositions.
Very valuable witnesses for the FTC
In fact, where Sony is the market leader and therefore could be perceived as a player defending its edge and pre-square, this is not the case for Google and Nvidia.
Better, one of the markets scrutinized by the FTC for a possible problematic situation after the closing of the takeover bid is that of cloud games. In this market, Nvidia is Microsoft’s direct competition with its GeForce Now service.
The question is once again that of access to Activision Blizzard licenses. Today, the publisher does not offer cloud gaming and opposes subscription offers. Under Microsoft’s control, its juiciest licenses like Obligations it will end up on Xbox Cloud Gaming, at the expense of Nvidia GeForce Now.
Microsoft has promised that Call of Duty will be available on the Steam and Nintendo platforms, and has been open to signing a contract with Sony PlayStation. On the other hand, the giant has never made this type of proposal for GeForce Now.
Frandroid was able to ask Nvidia about these questions during a presentation on the new GeForce Now Ultimate subscription. The firm declined to comment.
On Google’s side, cloud gaming service Stadia is on the verge of shutting down, but it’s also about assessing the broader cloud market, where Google is a fierce competitor to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
It is important to emphasize that neither Google nor Nvidia are opposed to the takeover bid as such, but that the companies are concerned and willing to declare about it. In other words, it seems that it would be possible for Microsoft to sign agreements with the two brands.
The trial between the FTC and Microsoft is scheduled to open in August 2023. Until then, all eyes are on the UK, the European Union and China for the publication of their decisions on this huge case.
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