UK's CMA Provides an Update on Concerns Regarding the Activision Blizzard

gamerant.com:

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its provisional findings in the ongoing investigation about Microsoft's pending Activision Blizzard acquisition. The $68.7 billion deal has been in active conversation for a while, mostly due to concerns by regulators over the implications of Microsoft acquiring Activision. Recently, the CMA has revealed what it believes some of those implications would mean for the industry.

Concerns over Microsoft's potential monopolistic power have been growing since the deal was announced last year. While regulatory bodies like the FTC, the CMA, and the EU have already put the spotlight on the issue, its most vocal opposition has come from Sony. The rival company has been continuously making the argument that the Activision deal would only serve to harm PlayStation and industry competition as a whole. Microsoft has since retaliated by signing 10-year deals with Nvidia Geforce Now, Boosteroid, Ubitus, and Nintendo with the company indicating that there will be more similar announcements in the future. The Xbox maker even offered a compromise to the EU in hopes of getting the green light for the deal.

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Now, the CMA has issued its provisional findings in its investigation, signaling potential implications for Microsoft's pending acquisition. As per its findings, the CMA has provisionally concluded that the Activision Blizzard deal «will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to console gaming.» The regulator further claims that the cost of withholding IPs like Call of Duty from PlayStation «would outweigh any gains from taking such action.» Incidentally,