Microsoft CEO Refuses To Rule Out Pulling Activision Games From The UK

thegamer.com:

Microsoft has encountered a lot more hurdles than it probably expected in its attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard. For starters, the deal was blocked by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last year, which has sued Microsoft due to concerns over competition in the gaming industry. Microsoft is pretty confident that it will win in court, especially given that the EU has now given the deal the green light. However, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is proving to be much more of a headache for the company.

The CMA followed the FTC's example and blocked the acquisition last month, on the basis that the deal could “alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market". Unlike the FTC's lawsuit, there's very little that Microsoft can do to push the deal through as it stands that would satisfy the CMA, so it's possible that Microsoft could simply refuse to sell Activision Blizzard games in the UK to get around this issue.

Related: Why Did The CMA Block The Microsoft Activision Blizzard Merger FAQ

For most of you reading, that will probably sound like a farfetched outcome, but it's one that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has refused to rule out. First shared by The Verge, an interviewer for CNBC TV recently asked Nadella whether there would ever be a scenario in which Microsoft could sell Activision Blizzard games in the US and EU, but leave out the UK. His response was something that British Call of Duty enjoyers probably won't want to hear, as Nadella simply says "Let's wait for it all to play out".

You could read this comment in one of two ways. Either Nadella is keeping his cards close to his chest - refusing to comment on the situation until work behind the scenes is done or decisions have been