The FTC and DOJ’s antitrust divisions are headed by prominent Big Tech critics - Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter, respectively - who have advocated for using antitrust laws to curb those companies’ size and influence. In an unfortunate coincidence, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), which enforce antitrust laws in the United States, announced a few hours later that they are working together on new guidelines for mergers that take the digital economy into account. The timing of Microsoft’s announcement wasn’t ideal. There’s nothing more metaverse-y than games, where people already create virtual versions of themselves and navigate virtual worlds, often interacting with virtual versions of other, real, people along the way. Microsoft says it wants to offer as many games as possible to as many people as possible on as many devices as possible - including in new spaces like the metaverse, the virtual world that some companies ( most notably, Facebook) see as the next tech frontier. Some are concerned that Microsoft will use the purchase to monopolize an increasingly consolidated gaming market and exclude rivals others see it as a way to level an expanding playing field and even promote more competition, not squelch it. Microsoft says about 3 billion people play video games now, and it expects 4.5 billion will play by 2030. It’s a huge business, raking in about $180 billion globally last year. You may not be a gamer, but a lot of other people are. Opinions are mixed about how good for the gaming industry the merger will be. Its library of games will expand significantly, potentially giving its Xbox console and Game Pass subscription program an edge over Sony’s PlayStation and rumored Game Pass rival. If the $69 billion deal goes through, Microsoft will become the third-largest gaming company in the world by revenue. The company announced on January 18 that it would make the largest acquisition in its history, buying up Activision Blizzard, one of the biggest video game publishers in the world. If Microsoft is worried that the anti-Big Tech, pro-antitrust movement will finally come for it, you wouldn’t know it. Over the next few weeks, we’ll cover what’s happening with Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google.
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This story is part of a Recode series about Big Tech and antitrust.
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