Dear clients,
The UK competition authority on Friday approved Microsoft’s acquisition of „Call of Duty“ game maker Activision Blizzard after earlier concerns were allayed by a restructuring of the deal.
Activision agreed to sell its streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment in August, and last month Microsoft proposed measures to ensure compliance with the terms of the deal, allowing the regulator to allay some residual concerns.
The approval will allow Microsoft to complete the deal by 18 October, after it extended the deadline by three months in July to get the UK clearance.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Microsoft’s concession on streaming was a „game changer“ and added that it was the only competition organisation in the world to achieve such a result.
„The new deal will not allow Microsoft to block competition in cloud gaming as this market evolves, keeping prices and services competitive for UK cloud gaming customers,“ it said in a statement.
Microsoft announced the biggest deal in gaming industry history in early 2022, but in April the $69bn acquisition was blocked by the CMA, concerned that the US computer giant would gain too much control over the nascent cloud gaming market.
CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said: „We made it clear to Microsoft that the deal would be blocked unless they addressed all of our concerns and we stand by our judgement.“ She said the regulator, which has been given greater powers following the UK’s exit from the European Union, makes decisions „without political influence“ and will not be „subject to lobbying by corporations“.
Microsoft expressed „gratitude for the CMA’s careful consideration and judgement“.
„We have now cleared the final hurdle to finalise a deal that we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide,“ said vice president and president Brad Smith.
