Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Completed After UK Regulator Approval
The last hurdle in ‘s acquisition of has been cleared as the UK regulator approves the deal after a period of consultation on the deal.
The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) initially blocked the Xbox creator’s purchase of the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft juggernaut Activision Blizzard in April due to growing concerns about its impact on the future cloud gaming market.
The deal has been finalized and officially announced. It will bring the likes of Overwatch, Diablo, Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and World of Warcraft under Microsoft’s Xbox brand after previous acquisitions of Elder Scrolls studio Bethesda and Minecraft creator Mojang. The company insists it will not wall off lucrative franchises as part of the deal.
Microsoft shuffled the deck a bit and came up with a new proposal that saw the cloud services sold to Ubisoft outside the European Economic Area for all Activision Blizzard games released in the next 15 years.
Microsoft president Brad Smith had this to say on the news.
”We’re grateful for the CMA’s thorough review and decision today. We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide.”
CEO Bobby Kotick will stay on until he end of 2023 to help with the transition.
In a statement from the CMA, it’s clear the regulator is somewhat begrudgingly approving the acquisition, with criticism for Microsoft’s approach.
“The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers. It will allow Ubisoft to offer Activision’s content under any business model, including through multigame
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