The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

 

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which oversees business competition and prevents anti-competitive practices, has released a provisional decision on Microsoft’s proposed $69B acquisition of gaming titan Activision Blizzard.  The U.K. regulator has concluded that it opposes the merger, which it claims could harm U.K. gamers and lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation. The CMA has also expressed concern that the Activision deal would give Microsoft a stronghold over the relatively new cloud gaming market, thus disrupting the competition.   The U.K. regulator has given Microsoft and Activision Blizzard until Feb. 22 to respond and has outlined remedies for addressing its concerns.  The remedies include having Microsoft sell its Call of Duty business, divesting the Activision segment of Activision Blizzard, or terminating the deal.  Regulators in the U.S. and the EU have also criticized the deal, with the Federal Trade Commission seeking to block the purchase and the EU possibly issuing an antitrust warning against it.