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Smith will lead a delegation of 18 senior executives, including
Microsoft Gaming Chief Executive Officer Phil Spencer, while
Activision will be represented by its CEO Robert Kotick, a
European Commission document seen by Reuters showed.
The hearing will allow Xbox maker Microsoft to gauge the mood
among senior EU and national competition officials and European
Commission lawyers ahead of the submission of remedies to
address antitrust concerns.
"I think we will make clear that our acquisition of Activision
Blizzard will bring more games to more people on more devices
and platforms than ever before," Smith told reporters on his way
to the hearing.
Microsoft was willing to address concerns with "Call of Duty"
licensing offers similar to the 10-year deal with Nintendo and
regulatory undertakings, Smith added, without providing any
further details.
Microsoft announced the Activision acquisition in January last
year to take on leaders Tencent and Sony, but has run into
regulatory headwinds in Europe, Britain and the United States.
Sony, which wants the deal to be blocked, sent its gaming chief
Jim Ryan.
Alphabet's Google and chip designer and computing firm Nvidia
Corp, which has a gaming business, also took part in the
hearing.
"The European Commission asked for our views in the course of
their inquiries into this issue. We will continue to cooperate
in any processes, when requested, to ensure all views are
considered," a Google spokesperson said.
Nvidia declined to comment. The European Games Developer
Federation, which has said the deal will allow Microsoft to
challenge Apple, Google and Tencent, is one of the participants.
Video game distributor Valve, video game publisher Electronic
Arts and the German competition watchdog and its peers in
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal,
Spain and Sweden will also be taking part in the event.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Chris Reese and Shounak
Dasgupta)
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