Minecraft console dev studio argues buyout of Activision-Blizzard is ‘a natural evolution of the industry’

Responses to findings by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority to Microsoft’s buyout of Activision-Blizzard are continuing to be revealed, following the paranoid scenarios from Sony and Microsoft’s own response to the regulatory body’s assumptions. This time around, responses from third-party developers in the UK are coming to light, one of which is from 4J Studios, the Scottish developer that handled console versions of Minecraft and argued in favor of the transaction going forward in the UK.

4J’s response states that it was never under any pressure by Microsoft to favor the Xbox version of the sandbox over others, and even says that it was encouraged to create unique content for other platforms such as the Mario Mash-Up Pack for the Nintendo version. In addition, 4J argues that working with Microsoft has been completely professional and has brought “significant stability and rigor to [its] contractual and commercial relationships.”

Finally, the studio argues that the buyout is necessary – even evolutionary – in order for Microsoft to stay competitive.

“The games industry is now the world’s largest entertainment industry and, as such, it is inevitable that companies like Microsoft need to gain access to more content and talent to justify their continued investment into large scale hardware platforms such as Xbox.

“We do not see the proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard as anything other than a natural evolution of the industry and it does not give us any cause for concern for our own future opportunities.”

4J Studios is one of six other third-party devs that filed their own favorable responses to the deal moving forward in the UK, though the other studios did not wish to be named in their filings. Given reasons for allowing the merger range from providing more competition to PlayStation to making working conditions better for ActiBlizz employees.

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