The following statement can be attributed to George Rakis, Executive Director for NextGen Competition (nextgencomp.tech):

News that the European Union has found that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard could threaten fair competition in the video game market is not surprising. The deal raises numerous competition, labor, and privacy concerns that neither Microsoft nor Activision have been able to adequately address.

As a Forbes contributor recently pointed out, Microsoft is arguing that keeping Call of Duty multiplatform just “makes business sense,” but the company is also saying it “makes business sense” to keep Redfall, Starfield, or the next Elder Scrolls as Xbox exclusives. That logic sounds more like arbitrary case-by-case decision-making and is just as concerning as Microsoft’s inability to answer questions about its plans to address Activision's toxic workplace culture and anti-union efforts.

About NextGen Competition

Our mission is to support a robust and competitive technology ecosystem by opposing anti-competitive business practices and promoting greater industry accountability. Specifically, we oppose consolidation in the industry that undermines worker protections and employer accountability, threatens data privacy and security, encourages market concentration, and limits consumer choice. NextGen Competition intends to work with a broad coalition of unions and public interest partners as it seeks to oppose anti-competitive business practices.