European Commission Responds to Staff’s Unprofessional Remarks Against the Microsoft Activision Deal

An employee of the European Commission has caused eyebrows to be raised with their public remarks on the organization’s current inquiry into Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition proposal for Activision Blizzard. As a result, the EU Commission has been forced to reply to the employee’s statements.

Ricardo Cardoso, a member of the Commission, said in a tweet the previous week that the body was working to ensure that you will still be able to play Call of Duty on other consoles (including my PlayStation). 

has just addressed the matter in further detail via a statement

One way the statement states the case, as has Microsoft, is that Activision’s popular shooter series will continue to be available on Sony platforms “as long as there are PlayStations out there to ship to.” On the other way, some fans expressed surprise that a member of the Commission was publicly discussing the issue and offering a viewpoint that appeared to be primarily focused on their console preference. Now that the Commission has stepped in on the matter, it has published a brief statement that clarifies that Cardoso does not have a direct role in the inquiry process being conducted by the organization against Activision Blizzard.

Mr Cardoso works in the Director General for the Internal Market and not in the Directorate General for Competition. Mr Cardoso is not involved in the assessment of this transaction. Furthermore, as indicated clearly in his Twitter profile, he tweets in a personal capacity”

-European Commission via TweakTown 

In addition, Cardoso himself has just addressed the matter in further detail via a statement that was published on Twitter.

To clarify: I am not involved in the assessment of the merger and don't even work in the department dealing with mergers. As is clear from my profile my comments are personal and not a Commission position, whose decision will be taken on the basis of the facts and the law.

— Ricardo Cardoso (@RCardosoEU) November 12, 2022

Following the end of a more rudimentary probe, the European Commission last week announced the launch of its second, “in-depth” inquiry into the Microsoft-Activision agreement. Similarly, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is now investigating the transaction, with a focus on the potential effects on Sony of Microsoft owning Call of Duty and incorporating it in Xbox Game Pass. In the spring, both organizations are anticipated to release their results.