The European Commission has launched an extensive investigation into Microsoft’s acquisition of game maker Activision Blizzard. The US technology group wants to pay about $70 billion to the game maker. Brussels fears that the competitive position of other companies will be severely affected.

Microsoft announced the acquisition in january But competition authorities in the US, UK and Europe have yet to grant approval. If the deal goes through, it will be the biggest tech acquisition ever.

The European Commission fears that the acquisition will lead to less competition, higher prices, lower quality and less innovation. Microsoft’s competitors fear that highly popular Activision games like Call of duty In the future only for Microsoft products like Xbox and Windows.

So Sony, the manufacturer of the PlayStation, complained about the acquisition. This week it became clear that the shooting game call of duty modern warfare 2It has already made $1 billion since sales began October 28.

Microsoft has committed Call of duty To keep it available for the PlayStation for several years, because there is a contract with Sony. The company is also considering the release of the popular Nintendo Switch, which is currently not playable.

The Committee is also concerned that Microsoft is using the acquisition of Activision to increase its power in the PC market. The committee has until March 23, 2023 to make a decision on the acquisition.