A number of human rights organizations have expressed concern about the purchase of Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft plans to make. They demanded that the US Federal Trade Commission carefully study the deal in order to prevent possible consequences for the market. One of the reasons is the direct threat of competition.This is stated in an open letter published on March 1.
It is addressed personally to the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Lina Khan (Lina Khan).
Among the human rights groups that have signed up are the consumer protection organization Public Citizen, the Communications Workers of America union and the antitrust organization Open Markets Institute.
“We believe that the transaction may lead to an excessive concentration of market power, if viewed as a vertical or horizontal merger, jeopardize privacy and data security, undermine consumer protection on the Internet, infringe on their right to repair equipment, as well as infringe on the rights of employees and increase wage inequality,” the statement said..
Human rights activists explained why the purchase of Activision Blizzard can be considered both a vertical and a horizontal transaction.
In the first case, the main argument is that Microsoft, being one of the largest platform holders, encroaches on a proportionate piece of the gaming market in the publishing segment and thereby creates a threat to fair competition. If we talk about the “horizontal” nature of the deal, if approved, Microsoft will join a company with an audience of 400 million gamers to its gaming business and become the third largest publisher in the world.
According to human rights groups, the potential deal could lead to higher prices for subscriptions and other products from Microsoft, as well as limit video game consumers.
For these reasons, the organizations that signed the letter ask the FTC to take into account all possible risks and prevent a potential threat to the free market.
Initially, the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard was to be considered by the US Department of Justice. However, in February, Bloomberg sources reported that this task could go to the FTC. In the same article, it was noted that Lina Khan adheres to a tougher approach to considering such mergers and opposes the dominance of individual technology companies.