Clearing a big hurdle in the Microsoft – Activision Blizzard deal; the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA); the regulatory body in UK, gave the all clear to Microsoft to proceed on this. The deal has faced regulatory and legal hurdles across countries. In USA, while the Federal Trade Commission opposed it; however the courts finally gave a judgement in favor of the deal.
CMA had raised objections to the deal over concerns that it would give Microsoft complete dominance in the rapidly emerging cloud gaming market; to which Microsoft had objected to. Microsoft had eventually agreed to re-structure the conditions and logistics of the deal in reply to concerns put up by the CMA; by giving a commitment to releasing Call Of Duty across multiple platforms for a period of 10 years; and selling cloud gaming rights outside Europe to Ubisoft – Activision Blizzard’s rival.
Sarah Cardell of CMA said “As cloud gaming grows, this intervention will ensure people get more competitive prices, better services and more choice” . Bobby Kotick of Activision Blizzard said “We now have all regulatory approvals necessary to close and we look forward to bringing joy and connection to even more players around the world” Microsoft CEO Brad Smith said “We’re grateful for the CMA’s thorough review and decision today. We have crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide”
The deal, which was first announced in 2022 has industry-wide implications and is poised to give Xbox potentially exclusive access to genre-defining franchises like Call Of Duty, Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch. Fans in fact have already started wondering if either of these games will land on Game Pass.
