Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Buyout Is Being Investigated By UK Watchdog Over Competition Concerns
Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is a mega deal in video games and is complex process to see through. Since they're both multinational corporations, the $68.7 billion deal needs to be approved by multiple governments, and it seems the UK could be a thorn in the side for the merger.
The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last month said it had started investigating the deal to conclude if it is fair to the competition. Anti-trust regulation is a trend especially in tech and both US and UK authorities have been looking closely at whether the deal could have monopolistic tendencies.
Related: Sony Buying Bungie Is Bad Too
Following a period of speaking to third parties who have interests in the deal, the CMA have said that it has a number of concerns which need to be addressed (via VGC).
"Following our Phase 1 investigation, we are concerned that Microsoft could use its control over popular games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft post-merger to harm rivals, including recent and future rivals in multi-game subscription services and cloud gaming," senior director of mergers at CMA Sorcha O'Carroll said.
"If our current concerns are not addressed, we plan to explore this deal in an in-depth Phase 2 investigation to reach a decision that works in the interests of UK gamers and businessess."
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have until September 8 to send proposals to the CMA to address its concerns, and if this action isn't taken the deal will be referred for further investigation. Summarising the CMA's Phase 1 investigations, the UK watchdog is concerned the merger could "harm rivals" by preventing "recent and future entrants into gaming" from accessing Activision Blizzard games or
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