Would we finally witness the conclusion of the soap opera around the historic acquisition of Activision Blizzard King by Microsoft ? It’s going well.
Since January 2022, this $69 billion operation has hit the headlines with many twists and turns and real ping-pong matches between Microsoft and various competition authorities. The latest obstacle to date is the British CMA, the final barrier to Microsoft’s victory. It has recently issued a preliminary opinion while awaiting its final verdict in mid-October. And that smells pretty good for the American giant.
Only a few episodes left before the end of the series?
In a few weeks, the video game juggernaut Activision Blizzard King could finally belong, at least mainly, to Microsoft. The only thing still preventing the conclusion of this long series is the CMA, the British competition authority. As a reminder, it decided to block the operation last April. Its motive: the fear of a quasi-monopoly situation on the local Cloud gaming market.
However, it was not Microsoft’s fault for trying to allay the CMA’s concerns by approaching GeForce NOW and other players in Cloud gaming, who also did not see this blockage very well. eye. The Redmond firm therefore had to play one last card: cede the Cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft.
It seems that this final sacrifice was well received. The British CMA has indeed agreed to review its judgment and recently shared its preliminary opinion. “ The CMA considers that the restructured agreement brings important changes which substantially alleviate our concerns [vis-à-vis du Cloud gaming, ndlr] ”, we read in a press release from the British government, cited in the source below.
Final verdict in a few weeks
The British authority thus indicates that it is ready to “ open the door so that the transaction is concluded “. Even if this first opinion turns out to be very good news for Microsoft, we must not sell the skin of the proverbial studio before the final verdict. The deadline for the latter has been set for October 18.
Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, is in any case confident about the positive outcome of the negotiations with the British authority. “ We presented solutions which, in our opinion, fully respond to the CMA’s latest questions regarding Cloud gaming. We will continue to work to obtain their approval for the buyout before the deadline of October 18 », We can read in a message on his X.com account.
Phil Spencer, boss of Xbox, also addressed Microsoft employees in a memo, in which we can read his relief: “ I have some encouraging news to share about our proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard […]. This is a positive development and a welcome indicator that our hard work is bringing us closer to our goal “.
This is indeed welcome news, as Xbox recently experienced a major leak, leaking information on the console that will succeed Series X|S, as well as several projects from ZeniMax Media and its studios. Fortunately for Microsoft’s gaming branch, its flagship exclusivity which is Starfield For its part, it seems to be doing very well, with the number of players reaching new heights. The stars therefore seem to be realigning positively.
Source : Gov.UK
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