Google and Nvidia are reported to be “voicing concerns” to US financial officials about the acquisition of Activision Blizzard from Microsoft.

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Google and Nvidia have contacted US financial regulators about Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, according to Bloomberg (paywall).

Sources told the site that both Google and Nvidia “raised concerns” with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which sued to block the deal in December.

The FTC has argued that the acquisition, which would give Microsoft ownership of the likes of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, would reduce competition in the industry — a claim Microsoft has vehemently denied. The trial date has been set for August.

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According to the report, Google and Nvidia warned that Microsoft would gain an unfair advantage in mobile, subscription, and cloud, but Nvidia stopped explicitly opposing the deal, instead choosing to bring up the importance of equal access to games.

Google is set to shut down its ill-fated Stadia cloud-streaming service later in January, but it’s running the Google Play Store for Android devices. According to UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) filings, Microsoft plans to create a new Xbox Game Store for mobile games, and buying Activision Blizzard and King is key to the plan.

Meanwhile, Nvidia has made a major investment in its own game streaming service: GeForce Now. It should be noted that in 2021, Microsoft was among a number of technology companies protesting Nvidia’s $40 billion acquisition of British semiconductor company Arm, which the company eventually abandoned.

PlayStation maker Sony has so far led the way in opposing Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision, which has a June 2023 deadline. It is increasingly likely that the deadline will be missed.

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