CMA Issues Preliminary Approval of Restructured Activision Blizzard Sale to Microsoft
wowhead.comThe United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority has issued a preliminary approval of the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, as they move into a consultation period and prepare to make a final decision.
The CMA previously moved to block the deal last April, citing concerns that it would damage competition in the cloud gaming market, leading to less innovation and choice for UK gamers. In response, Microsoft restructured their proposal to divest cloud gaming rights of Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft instead, who as an independent entity from Microsoft will replicate the role Activision would have played in the market as a standalone company.
Competition and Markets Authority
The CMA considers that the restructured deal makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out in relation to the original transaction earlier this year.In particular, the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft will prevent this important content – including games such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft – from coming under the control of Microsoft in relation to cloud gaming. The CMA originally found that Microsoft already has a strong position in cloud gaming services and could have used its control over Activision content to stifle competition and reinforce this position. The new deal instead results in the cloud streaming rights for Activision’s games being transferred to an independent player, Ubisoft, maintaining open competition as the market for cloud gaming develops over the coming years.
This means that Microsoft will no longer be in a position to limit access to their own cloud gaming services, or potentially withhold Activision games from their rivals —
