The European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that Microsoft may “block access to Activision Blizzard’s console and PC video games, especially high-profile and highly successful games.” The EU’s merger watchdog set a March 23 deadline for the so-called phase 2 investigation. A combination with Activision — which owns some of the most popular games, including World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero — would make Microsoft the world’s third-largest gaming company and boost the Xbox maker’s slate of titles for Game Pass subscribers. But the deal already faces prolonged scrutiny from antitrust agencies around the world. Microsoft last month accused the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority of relying on rival Sony Group Corp’s “self-serving” information. in her discussions. The US Federal Trade Commission is also reviewing the transaction, including how it may affect workers. Read more: Activision Blizzard Beats Estimates, powered by Mobile Games Microsoft said in a statement that it would work with the EU to address any “valid” concerns about the purchase. “Sony, as an industry leader, says it’s concerned about Call of Duty, but we’ve said we’re committed to making the same game available on the same day on both Xbox and PlayStation,” the company added. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said in a letter to employees that the company is cooperating “with regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions and the process is progressing as we expected.” He added that he expects the deal to close in Microsoft’s current fiscal year, which ends next June. The EU last month asked video game developers, publishers, distributors, competing operating systems and cloud service providers about the potential negative effects of the deal. EU regulators said on Tuesday that their preliminary investigation showed the deal could “significantly reduce competition in the markets for the distribution of console and PC video games”, including multi-game subscription services, cloud game streaming services and computer operating systems. The deal could give Microsoft “the ability, as well as a potential financial incentive, to engage in blocking strategies” with rival video game distributors for consoles, the EU watchdog said. The commission said it sees the same risk for competitors computer operating system providers. (Updates with Activision’s comment in paragraph six) ©2022 Bloomberg LP