Activision Blizzard EU Approval Doesn’t Impress the UK’s CMA, Which is Sticking to its Guns
Today, Microsoft scored an important victory in its ongoing campaign to get its proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard approved by regulators, as the European Commission officially rubber-stamped the deal. Microsoft’s remedies, including inking a series of deals to bring Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch and rival cloud gaming services for at least a decade, were enough to satisfy the EU. This 10-year deal was also offered to, and rejected by, Sony, but EU regulators believe the PlayStation brand will still be plenty competitive without Call of Duty.
Opinions on the EU decision are sure to be split and it seems the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which ruled against the merger last month, isn’t impressed. The CMA largely ruled against the merger on the grounds that Call of Duty plus Xbox Game Pass cloud streaming would give Microsoft an unfair advantage in the cloud gaming sector. It seems they’re not budging on that point, issuing a new statement saying the Activision Blizzard acquisition would give Microsoft the tools to “set the terms and conditions of this market for the next 10 years.”
“The UK, US and European competition authorities are unanimous that this merger would harm competition in cloud gaming. The CMA concluded that cloud gaming needs to continue as a free, competitive market to drive innovation and choice in this rapidly evolving sector.
Microsoft’s proposals, accepted by the European Commission today, would allow Microsoft to set the terms and conditions for this market for the next 10 years. They would replace a free, open and competitive market with one subject to ongoing regulation of the games Microsoft sells, the platforms to which it sells them, and the conditions of
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