UK's CMA "Provisionally" Approves Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Acquisition

thegamer.com:

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has "provisionally" approved Microsoft's plan proposed purchase of Activision-Blizzard-King, potentially putting the deal one step closer to action.

Microsoft's plan to purchase Activision-Blizzard-King for a staggering $68.7 billion has been going on for quite some time, largely due to how many marketing bodies have had to approve such a big purchase. One of the biggest roadblocks (aside from Sony) that the company has had to contend with since announcing the deal is the UK's CMA, a marketing regulator that initially blocked the deal from happening back in April, largely due to its concerns for the impact the purchase would have on cloud gaming.

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After the deal was blocked, it was clear that Microsoft would have to make some concessions in order to win over the CMA and get the deal moving again. Today, the CMA confirmed in a statement released on Gov.UK that the new deal put forward by Microsoft is enough for it to have "provisionally" accepted the deal, although it is yet to make a final decision.

The statement from the CMA reads, "While the CMA has identified limited residual concerns with the new deal, Microsoft has put forward remedies which the CMA has provisionally concluded should address these issues. The CMA is now consulting on the remedies before making a final decision."

According to the CMA, after the deal was blocked in April, Microsoft shared a "restructured transaction" in August for the CMA to review. In that new deal, Microsoft said that it would not be purchasing the cloud gaming rights held by Activision which the CMA was worried would impact competition in the industry, and that they would instead