Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition has officially been approved by UK regulators
The mega deal edges even closer to completion
Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard has been officially approved by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
This development follows the body’s announcement last month that it’d provisionally agreed to allow the deal, following a consultation period designed to help address remaining concerns that certain aspects of the version currently on the table could potentially be “circumvented, terminated, or not enforced.” The CMA blocked the original iteration of the deal submitted by Microsoft back in April, citing apprehension over how it could affect competition in the cloud gaming space.
In response, the company behind Xbox then tabled a revised version of it, having agreed to sell some cloud gaming rights for Activision titles to Ubisoft. The CMA has now cleared this new deal.
“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.” the body said in a statement about the development.
“We delivered a clear message to Microsoft that the deal would be blocked unless they comprehensively addressed our concerns and stuck to our guns on that.” CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said in the press release.
“With the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, we’ve made sure Microsoft can’t have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market. As cloud gaming grows, this intervention will ensure people get more competitive prices, better services and more choice,” she continued.
Cardell also criticised Microsoft’s approach to dealing with the regulator, saying: “Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation, but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn’t work. Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money.”
According to recent reporting from The Verge, the deal could now be finalised as soon as later today, with October 13 having been cited by sources as the closure date that Microsoft and Activision have been targeting, assuming the CMA approved the deal.
This would be in advance of the October 18 merger deadline agreed to by the companies after opposition from regulators necessitated an extension beyond the original deadline of July 18, 2023.
Though, as reported by Bloomberg, even if the deal is closed soon, Microsoft could still face some opposition from the Federal Trade Commission in the US, with the body having confirmed that it plans to go ahead with an in-house challenge to the deal (thanks, VGC).