LONDON – The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Friday cleared Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the publisher of the video game “Call of Duty”, after a proposed restructured deal addressed his previous concerns.
In August, Activision agreed to transfer streaming rights to its video games to Ubisoft Entertainment. Last month, Microsoft proposed solutions to ensure the terms of the sale were enforceable by the regulator, allaying remaining concerns over the tie-up.
The approval allows Microsoft to complete the deal by October 18, after extending the deadline by three months in July to get the green light from the United Kingdom.
“The new agreement will prevent Microsoft from blocking competition in cloud gaming as this market grows, thereby preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers,” the CMA said in a statement. communicated.
Microsoft announced the largest video games deal in history in early 2022, but the $69 billion acquisition was blocked in April by the CMA over concerns that the US gaming giant IT does not take too much control over the emerging online gaming market.
“We made it clear to Microsoft that the transaction would be blocked unless it comprehensively addressed our concerns, and we have not changed our mind on that,” said Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA.
She added that the regulator, whose power has increased since Britain left the European Union, made its decisions “free from political influence” and would not allow itself to be not “influence through corporate lobbying”.
Microsoft said it was “grateful for the CMA’s careful consideration and decision.”
“We have cleared the final regulatory hurdle to complete this acquisition which we believe will benefit gamers and the gaming industry around the world,” said Brad Smith, vice president and president of Microsoft.
“The official approval from the CMA is great news for our future with Microsoft, and we look forward to being part of the Xbox team,” Activision Blizzard said.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bangalore and Paul Sandle in London; French version Lina Golovnya, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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