Microsoft's Activision Takeover Deal Was Blocked Due to Cloud Gaming, Not Consoles: Details
For all the thunder about Xbox versus PlayStation, it was the nascent cloud market that led to Britain's surprise decision to block Microsoft's record Activision Blizzard takeover.
Microsoft has been working for months to satisfy concerns about the $69 billion (roughly Rs. 5,64,700 crore) deal raised by Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has been increasing proactive in taking on "Big Tech" since Brexit.
The ruling - which the US company has vowed to appeal — sets a precedent for the European Commission — due to issue its own verdict next month, and the US Federal trade Commission.
Microsoft offered Sony a 10-year guarantee that new versions of Call of Duty— one of the most valuable franchises in gaming — would be available on PlayStation at the same time as on Xbox. Nintendo secured a similar deal.
That only answered the CMA's console concerns, leaving cloud gaming as the only remaining — and apparently lower — hurdle.
Defining cloud gaming is not simple.
Platform types and business models are still evolving, and several 'gaming as a platform' services have struggled to succeed, such as Google Stadia, according to a submission to the CMA's inquiry by UCL School of Management's Joost Rietveld.
Transient Technology?
Activision has not made its titles available on cloud services, calling them a "transient technology", while Microsoft, which offers the Xbox Game Pass service, has said cloud gaming is "no more than a feature".
The CMA disagreed, saying that cloud was the most rapidly growing sector in gaming, while consoles were a mature market.
It said Microsoft already accounted for 60-70 percent of global cloud gaming services and had other trump cards: Xbox, the leading PC operating system Windows
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