On Apr. 26, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a press release announcing its final decision to prevent Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision for $69B, citing its negative impact on “the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market” and other concerns.
Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision is considered the biggest gaming deal of all time.
In Jan. 2022, Microsoft announced plans to buy Activision for $68.7B. The CMA eventually launched an investigation into the deal in Sept. 2022 and was given until Apr. 26 to release its final decision on the matter.
- The CMA concluded that in addition to its impact on the cloud gaming market, the deal would also lead to stifled innovation and less choice for U.K. gamers.
- The U.K.’s antitrust regulator found that based on Microsoft’s strong position in the cloud gaming sector and additional evidence, the software giant “would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service.”
- Microsoft’s remedy, which the CMA says was “examined in considerable depth,” had “considerable shortcomings.” The regulator alleges that it did not sufficiently cover different cloud gaming service business models and was not open to providers who wish to offer versions of games on PC operating systems other than Windows. It would standardize the terms and conditions for game availability instead of letting the market determine them.
