Gaming: Commission approves Zenimax – Microsoft $7.5 b deal
Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of ZeniMax by Microsoft
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media Inc. by Microsoft Corporation, both of the U.S.
According to the Commission’s announcement:
‘ZeniMax is a company that develops and publishes games for personal computers (‘PCs’), gaming consoles, and mobile devices. Microsoft is a global technology company, which develops, publishes, and distributes games for PCs, consoles, and mobile devices.
The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the combined entity’s limited market position upstream and the presence of strong downstream competitors in the distribution of video games. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure.
More information is available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.10001.’
Once the deal is fully closed, Microsoft’s list of first-party studios will jump to 23, following the addition of Bethesda sub-studios like Dishonored developer Arkane, Wolfenstein studio MachineGames, Doom maker id Software, and The Evil Within studio Tango Gameworks. Microsoft appears to be planning to keep Bethesda running separately, with its existing leadership.
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