The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority has released its updated report on Microsoft's proposed $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The report contains updated provisional findings on the merger's effects on console gaming.
- The CMA's updated report
states that "a significant amount of new evidence" has alleviated some
of the group's concerns about fair competition in the cloud gaming
industry.
- The
group has concluded that based on its latest provisional findings, "the
transaction will not result in a substantial lessening of competition
in relation to console gaming in the U.K."
- The
new evidence refers to Microsoft's financial incentives to make
Activision's games, including Call of Duty, exclusive to its own Xbox
consoles.
- These recent findings exclusively pertain to competition in consoles' supply, not cloud gaming services.
- The
CMA states that it still has concerns about the deal's possible impact
on the competition in the cloud gaming industry, and it will complete
its investigation into the matter by late April.
