欧盟称对微软表示的不会独占声明持怀疑态度将深入调查

欧盟委员会称，初步调查表明，微软通过收购动视暴雪，会损害其竞争对手的游戏机和 PC 视频游戏分销商的利益，微软有能力以及潜在的动机，禁止竞争对手使用动视暴雪的产品，尤其是高知名度和非常成功的游戏，例如《使命召唤》系列。

微软之前多次声明《使命召唤》不会成为 Xbox 独占游戏，菲尔·斯宾塞最近表示，主机独占的概念很快就会成为过去，这些话遭到了多个监管机构的怀疑，欧盟似乎也同样持怀疑态度。但菲尔·斯宾塞对完成收购非常有信心。

初步调查表明，微软有能力与竞争对手进行止赎策略，例如阻止这些公司在主机上分销动视暴雪的主机游戏，或更改其使用或访问游戏的条款，对于通过Game Pass提供并在Windows游戏应用程序上分发《使命召唤》，委员会对这些事很是担忧。

目前他们已正式展开对微软收购动视暴雪的第二阶段调查，此次调查将更为深入，为期90天，会在2023年3月23号对该交易作出最终裁决。

After months of tepid peeks into the inner workings of the video game industry and kindly-worded surveys sent to game developers, publishers, and distributors asking how they feel about the Activision-Microsoft merger, the EU has decided it's time for a full-throated investigation into the world’s biggest games deal. "The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft under the EU Merger Regulation," the European Commission wrote in a press release. "The Commission is concerned that the proposed acquisition may reduce competition in the markets for the distribution of console and personal computers (‘PCs') video games and for PC operating systems." Related: Modern Warfare 2 Is Best When It Isn't Digging Up The Past The European Commission noted its preliminary investigation found the merger "may significantly reduce competition on the markets for the distribution of console and PC video games, including multi-game subscription services and/or cloud game streaming services, and for PC operating systems." Of particular concern has been Call of Duty, a multi-billion dollar franchise and one of the biggest names in all of video games. Microsoft has repeatedly suggested that Call of Duty will not be made an Xbox exclusive, with Phil Spencer recently suggesting that the very notion of console exclusives will soon be a thing of the past. Those words have been met with skepticism from world regulators, and it seems like the EU is equally skeptical. "The preliminary investigation suggests that Microsoft may have the ability, as well as a potential economic incentive, to engage in foreclosure strategies vis-à-vis Microsoft's rival distributors of console video games, such as preventing these companies from distributing Activision Blizzard's console video games on consoles or degrading the terms and conditions for their use of or access to these video games," the Commission wrote. It had similar concerns with respect to Call of Duty being made available through Game Pass and distributed on Windows game apps. The EU will now conduct a more thorough 90-day investigation that will ultimately determine the fate of the proposed merger between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft on March 23, 2023. The US FTC, meanwhile, is expected to make its decision later this month.