Microsoft has defended its proposal to buy Activision Blizzard – the maker of Call of Duty and Candy Crush – at a hearing on EU competitions.
Microsoft believes the $68.7 billion (£56.8 billion) deal will give more players more choices.
But rival Sony, who also attended the hearing, says the merger would give Microsoft too much control over some of the world’s most popular games.
Sony owns PlayStation – a major competitor to Microsoft’s Xbox console.
Microsoft President Brad Smith described the EU hearing on Tuesday as “an important day”.
He also dismissed Sony’s concerns that Activision Blizzard games — especially Call of Duty — could be limited to Xbox users if the merger goes through.
“It was never about spending $69 billion so we could acquire titles like Call of Duty and make them less available,” he said after the hearing.
“It’s not a great way to turn a $69 billion asset into something that will become more valuable over time.”
In a statement, Activision Blizzard said, “We are confident that regulators will determine that our proposed merger will improve competition and create greater opportunities for workers and better games for our players.”
Chip designers Nvidia and Google are also said to have attended, although the hearing was not open to the press or the public.
Nvidia and Microsoft have announced a partnership that will allow both Xbox PC games and Activision Blizzard titles to become available through Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud streaming platform.
The tech company must convince regulators around the world that the deal – the largest in gaming history – would not harm its competitors. Today was Microsoft’s last chance to present its case in Europe before the Commission makes its decision.
Some countries – including Chile, Brazil and Saudi Arabia – have already approved it.
The UK’s competition regulator recently said it was opposed to the deal, although it has not yet announced its final decision, and the European Commission ordered an investigation.
One suggestion from the UK Competition and Markets Authority was that Call of Duty could be sold separately.
Microsoft has pledged to make all current Activision Blizzard games available on Nintendo, Sony, and Steam platforms for at least the next 10 years, but Sony has so far declined that deal.
Games companies previously acquired by the company include Minecraft maker Mojang and Fallout creator Bethesda. It has already been announced that Bethesda’s new game, Starfield, will launch exclusively on Xbox at launch.
Follow Zoe Kleinman on Twitter @zk.
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