Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has shared that he supports the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.
In an interview with entertainment news site The Wrap, Zelnick shared that Microsoft is an “ally” of Take-Two and that he believes the acquisition would benefit the game industry as a whole. While he didn’t reveal whether he thinks the deal will be approved by regulators, he did say that if it “makes [Microsoft’s] business more powerful, we think that’s good for us.”
Zelnick also revealed that while the acquisition would likely result in additional competition for Take-Two’s portfolio of games and developers, he doesn’t think it would be a big deal. “Ultimately the consumer votes,” he said. “And if we create great hits, which is our business, the consumers will show up. And no one can take that away from us.”
Zelnick also believes that more consolidation between companies will occur in the game industry in the future, but that games will be able to differentiate themselves through their own uniqueness. Following the reveal of the proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition earlier this year, Microsoft rival Sony acquired Destiny 2 maker Bungie in a deal that it claimed did not come about in response to the Xbox creator’s announcement.
Zelnick’s statements come alongside the revelation of concerns about the potential acquisition’s effects on markets and fair competition worldwide, courtesy of the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority. Following an initial investigation, the CMA released a document outlining numerous concerns with the deal, including the decreased ability of competitors to keep up with Microsoft’s huge back catalog of IPs. Microsoft quickly responded with a list of ways that it is the underdog next to Sony and other companies, calling the government body’s concerns “misplaced.”
