Twitch celebrity Zack “Asmongold” discussed the latest developments in Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard on April 27, 2023.
For those who are unaware, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) declared that the $68.7 billion acquisition had been halted in the UK because of worries that it will hurt competition in the market for cloud gaming.
Asmongold asserted that the social media update lacked “authenticity” after reading it. The well-known MMORPG streamer continued by calling the situation in the US “bulls**t.” However, he did assert that it seemed like the UK had “better laws”: “Now, I will tell you guys this. I see no… there is no authenticity to this. There is no… this just seems like bulls**t to me, in the U.S. However, in the U.K., I think that they do actually have better laws.”
Asmongold discovered the CMA’s notification regarding the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard at the two-hour mark of his livestream. He stated his initial opinions on the matter before elaborating on what he believed to be unjust to consumers: “The best comparison that I had used is that, I don’t find it to be fair, or good for consumers that, two companies have a duo monopoly on all app services on all smartphones in the world. In the U.S. I don’t find it; this is not healthy for a customer. This is not healthy for anybody else.”
The Twitch celebrity referenced Google (Android) and Apple as two examples of businesses that rule the smartphone and app markets. He clarified: “Here in the U.S., I don’t think that it is fair that, you know, Apple has 49% of app marketplace market share. And then Samsung, iOS; or not iOS, but Android has the other 49%. This is clearly not good for any free market. Because they control pretty much everything. So, yeah. I mean, I think over in the U.K. and EU, I think that they have different rules for apps. So, I don’t find this to be as much of a double standard.”
Asmongold claims that European government officials are “more hip” than their American counterparts: “The European people that are in their government are 60 years old. Whereas, the people in the U.S. government are 80 years old. So, they are a little bit more hip to the times, that we are. So, they are a little bit faster.”
Asmongold said, returning to the CMA’s decision to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard: “‘I believe that this will be the end of the deal. Microsoft will appeal. They will be taking this to court. This will be delayed.’ Yeah, I don’t really feel like… I don’t know. It just doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me. That, like, this one is going to get denied. But, how is it okay, like, other companies got merged? But this is also the thing that happened in the U.S. So, it’s very hard for me to say. I don’t know what the U.K. laws are.”
