Microsoft Calls for UK PM to Look Hard at the CMA Following Ruling Against Activision Blizzard Merger

wccftech.com:

The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided to block Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Yesterday's news was unexpected because it only focused on the dangers that Microsoft would dominate the cloud gaming market, which is just now getting off in a meaningful capacity, whereas the CMA had admitted earlier this month the much bigger console market would not be endangered by the merger.

Microsoft had tried to pre-emptively assure regulators like the CMA by signing 10-year contracts with cloud gaming providers like NVIDIA (for GeForce NOW), Boosteroid, Ubitus, and EE, which would be getting all of Microsoft's games, including Activision Blizzard's if the deal was approved. However, the CMA considered the impact of these deals to be 'highly uncertain' for UK consumers, and as such, they didn't qualify as relevant customer benefits.

In a chat with BBC's Wake Up to Money podcast, Microsoft president Brad Smith hit hard against the CMA's ruling, beginning by painting a bleak outlook on future tech investments in the United Kingdom following this decision. He also said that the cloud gaming market in the UK is so small that Microsoft doesn't even stream games to more than 5K consumers at once.

Unfortunately, I think it's bad for Britain. The business community, the investment community, and the technology sector around the world have been following this case, and the strong message the CMA has sent is not just to surprise everyone who fully expected this acquisition to be approved but to send a message that I think will discourage innovation and investment in the United Kingdom. In that sense, the impact of this decision is far broader than on Microsoft or this acquisition alone.