The FTC Accused of Lying about Xbox Activision Deal | Big Xbox Event Coming Soon? | News

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Timestamps

0:00 Intro

1:37 The FTC Lied?

7:00 Xbox Event Planned for Early 2023?

Sources:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/ftc-seeks-to-block-microsoft%E2%80%99s-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard.662515/page-34#post-97885306
https://twitter.com/FTC/status/1600931487133872128
https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases1/202124/m10001_438_3.pdf
https://twitter.com/aarongreenberg/status/1601117207173308416?s=20&t=PLN3j3u_R–RKxiZhhnh8Q
https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/xboxs-no-show-at-the-game-awards-caps-off-a-disappointing-2022

Xbox Activision Blizzard Acquisition Buyout Microsoft vs FTC Lina Khan EU Activision Blizzard Bethesda Zenimax Call of Duty Exclusive


Foreign [Music] Hey what's up everybody and welcome back To news dose and the last few days have Been absolutely crazy with the game Awards and just the entire FTC Activision Blizzard situation so much so That you all actually get an extra Episode this week as some very very Interesting Xbox stories are circulating That I felt that we need to cover you Know there's there's some major concerns That needs to be answered because things Keep getting crazier of course the FTC Earlier this week they announced they're Suing Microsoft in an attempt to stop The Activision Blizzard acquisition but One of the reasons that they claim to be Doing this has put themselves in some Hot water as another regulator is now Calling them I I did say the other day that the FTC Is basically trying to make a point Regardless of whether or not it abides With the law and while it continues to Look that way as the EU basically just Said that the FTC is lying Yeah we'll we'll go over all that as Their court case just became a lot more Difficult if this is indeed true now do Stay tuned no because one thing that we Have seen over the last 24 hours is that There are a lot of Xbox fans upset with Xbox's decision not to show anything at

The game awards well it sounds like There might be a reason as to why they Did that after all and not because they Didn't have anything to show so do stay Tuned for all that you might be pretty Happy with what you hear but let's just Go and get right into this so one of the Ftc's primary reasons to sue Microsoft Actually links to their previous Acquisition of Bethesda if you remember Right back when Microsoft was attempting To acquire Bethesda there were a lot of Questions on whether or not the EU would Approve of that buyout so much what We're kind of going through right now With the Activision Blizzard acquisition And there was also a lot of questions About exclusivity now we'll come back to That here in just a second but the FTC Stated that Microsoft misled the EU in That acquisition you can see here where The FTC posted this agency notes that Microsoft decided to make several of Bethesda's titles including Starfield And redfall Microsoft exclusives despite Assurances it had given to European Anti-Trust authorities that it had no Incentive to withhold games from rival Consoles Now when I first read that I thought That was a little questionable because I Don't really recall that being the case At all we covered the Bethesda Acquisition quite extensively on a

Channel and admittedly there were a lot Of word games when it came to Exclusivity but even us Gamers we we Kind of knew what was happening during That buyout for that entire year Microsoft made it clear that they Couldn't talk openly about exclusivity Until they own Bethesda but the entire Way through Microsoft would they dropped These little nuggets that essentially Would say things that boiled down to Existing games that are already Available on other platforms will remain Onset platforms they had no intentions Of taking those gains off of other Consoles like Nintendo and Playstation As an example Cinemax games like the Elder Scrolls Online will remain Multi-platform and will continue to be Supported on other platforms as for Completely new games though developed From the ground up that there was a Different story and they were a little Bit more vague about that situation or At least when it came to the public Again they would drop us little nuggets That would kind of hint towards that but As for the discussions with the EU well The EU actually responded to this Accusation made by the FTC this response Was made to the mlx which states Microsoft didn't make any quote-unquote Commitments to EU Regulators not to Release XBox exclusive content following

Its takeover of Cinemax media the European commission said the commission Cleared the Microsoft xenomax Transaction unconditionally as it Concluded that the transaction would not Raise competition concerns that is a Very interesting response as it almost Implies the tftc is lying or at least That's how it sounds now at the same Time though I do want to be fair about The situation because it is important to Keep in mind that in the official EU Statements regarding the Microsoft Bethesda acquisition they did note that Microsoft would not have the incentive To cease or limit making Cinemax Games Available for purchase on Rival Platforms so you can see where the FTC Would think that that is misleading but Based on off of eu's very own statement Here there was never any type of Commitment regarding exclusivity one way Or the other which makes the ftc's Reasoning essentially False so that is a problem for the FTC As it's yet another whole in their case Against Microsoft which quite frankly They can't afford Microsoft already has A really good case here and this hurts The FTC if they can't use this in court Now for me I actually have an entirely Different issue with this statement Though so they want to use the Bethesda Acquisition as an example of them making

Games exclusive and okay they're free to Do that but as the EU said they never Made any commitments because the EU Themselves never tried to get Concessions in their words they Concluded that the transaction would not Raise competition concerns so there was No need for concessions meanwhile Microsoft has already offered Concessions in the Activision Blizzard Buyout if the FTC has a problem with Exclusivity or at least when it comes to Call of Duty Well Microsoft they were trying to work With the FTC they were writing contracts To keep it multi-platform they offered It to Nintendo they offered a 10-year Contract to PlayStation they offered one To valve they had that in writing so Microsoft already offered the FTC some Of what they wanted and at the very Least Microsoft made some long-term Commitments that bettered Gamers keep in Mind that the FTC is supposed to protect Consumers and with Microsoft committing To bring Call of Duty to more platforms Not less that is a huge Boon for Microsoft's case this all just kind of Takes me back to Lena Khan's leadership With the FTC though we know for a fact That she's trying to be aggressive Against these big Tech mergers to try And make an example of them regardless If they have a case or not and that's

Why so far she has failed in numerous Court cases it actually sounds like She's wasting people's time and money Over a political statement but hey we'll See how all this turns out in the long Run things just keep getting crazier and Crazier but but I certainly don't think The FTC can afford to make mistakes like This Microsoft is a big company with a Lot of smart people and they will poke Holes in these accusations again they Already have a good case and it's only Made easier when another regulator Points out that the ftc's information is Factually wrong at best it makes the FTC Look incompetent Now we do have one other topic to go Over though I know a lot of Xbox fans Left the game awards disappointed as Xbox was noticeably a no-show this is One of the biggest Showcases of the year So it was a little bit odd that they Didn't show any first party games at all Especially considering 2023 and onward I Mean it's supposed to be pretty stacked For Xbox from here on out this is when a Lot of those Acquisitions that they've Made are gonna start to pay off Studios Like Ninja Theory of sitting Entertainment playground games etc etc They should be getting close to Releasing some of their bigger games so You would think Xbox would want to show Some of those games off at one of the

Year's biggest showcases But they weren't there and fans they Absolutely noticed that and they were They were pretty upset about it well Xbox's Aaron Greenberg seems to have Responded to that online criticism by Saying this we have a lot planned to Show and share about an incredibly Exciting year ahead for 2023. appreciate Folks are eager to learn and see more Timing is always key but don't worry you Will not have to wait too long for What's next from us now his wording here Alone I'd say is intriguing it almost Seems like he's suggesting that they Have something in store for fans some Type of showcase maybe that at least That's how his wording here sounds that Could be coming relatively soon in fact And this is where things get really Interesting because Jess Gordon over on Windows Central mentioned he's been Hearing a rumor that very much could Point to exactly that jazz in an article Noted this I've heard some tentative and Unverifiable rumors recently that Microsoft may be exploring some kind of Event for quarter one possibly in the Vein of its EXO event of the pre Pandemic age now that is very exciting If it is actually true but it is Important to keep in mind here that he Is very clearly saying that this is just A rumor so don't take this as confirmed

Information or anything like that but When you have this statement from Aaron Greenberg and then you also have a rumor From Jess corn and that kind of props up His statement there might actually be Something to this I do personally Believe that Xbox needs to bring back Their EXO events with them now owning so Many studios I I personally think that They need another showcase than just E3 I mean we see with Nintendo they have Multiple events every single year same With PlayStation and I think Xbox needs To follow suit as well I don't think That once showcase is quite enough Especially if you're not going to show Up at places like the game Wards but hey I guess we'll see soon enough if any of This turns out to be true Anyways oh that's it for this episode if You liked the video don't forget to Bell Notification And subscribe button for More content just like this also if You'd like to support the channel Through patreon thank you for making This content possible peace out

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