The government case against Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal floundering
 

Experts have difficulty demonstrating that it is bad for gamers

The US government’s case against Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal got off to a poor start when its witness Harvard economist Robin Lee struggled at times to demonstrate how the planned deal would hurt gamers.

The US Federal Trade Commission has asked a federal judge to stop the transaction temporarily to allow the agency's in-house judge to decide if it can go forward. That said, the side that loses in federal court often concedes, and the in-house process does not go forward.

Lee was pressed by an attorney for Microsoft over the details of his analyses of potential market share gains for the Redmond, Washington-based company’s Xbox division, particularly the effect on gamers who would migrate due to the popular "Call of Duty" videogame which Activision makes.

Lee acknowledged that his analyses did not account for anything but complete exclusivity of "Call of Duty" on Xbox and did not show what may occur if the game was available on Nintendo's Switch. If the deal goes through, Microsoft has pledged to provide the game to Switch for 10 years.

https://fudzilla.com/news/gaming/571...al-floundering