Veteran patent and antitrust analyst Florian Mueller agrees with this view, having recently stated that Sony missed several opportunities to offer “constructive solutions” in favor of The outcry has now caused the studio to lose control of the narrative surrounding the Agreement. Mueller, who now counts Microsoft as his client and has previously served as an advisor to Blizzard, told Game Rant that he is not aware of “any other instance where a complainant’s obstructionist attitude was highlighted.” clear” as here. “Managers don’t like that,” he insists.
Over the past 12 months, Sony has opposed Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard with various regulators around the world. Despite the efforts of PlayStation owners to oppose the merger, including the maker of Candy Crush King, Microsoft still seems confident that the deal will go through.
When asked for examples of what Sony could have done differently to affect the long-term outcome of the Activision Blizzard takeover, Mueller pointed to a recent revelation that a Sony executive threw ball into Microsoft’s Call of Duty deal on February 21st. merger hearing “Everybody is in Brussels, and this would be a good time to sit down and make a deal,” he said. For context, “everyone” also includes Nvidia, which announced a 10-year deal with Microsoft to bring Xbox PC games to their GeForce Now streaming platform on the same day. Microsoft experts aren’t the only ones who believe the pending deal will pass. According to a report in early February from Wedbush analysts, Microsoft is expected to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard this year, possibly mid-2023. When asked to speculate on whether the traditional rival Xbox’s lifecycle really believes the deal can stall, Mueller expressed skepticism about whether Sony executives received “realistic” advice. Given how the Japanese entertainment giant’s multi-jurisdictional claims generated PR interest early on, it’s possible that Sony was “encouraged” by this apparent impact to the extent that they “play too much,” he said.
Mueller admits it’s not easy to create enough stir to trigger competition investigations, but calls it a “healthy walk” compared to persuading regulators to stop mergers.” generally allowed” when combined with “effective remedies”. To be clear, Microsoft President Brad Smith recently confirmed that PlayStation’s Call of Duty deal will expire in 2024, but Sony has repeatedly signaled that it would rather block the Activision Blizzard acquisition than sign Another such deal in the way of Nintendo, Nvidia, Boosteroid and Ubitus completed in recent weeks.