CMA likely to approve Microsoft-Activision acquisition

Prepend to the content

UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) might approve the Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition soon, removing a major hurdle for the company.

As per the latest findings, the CMA concluded that there will be no effect in the competition even if Microsoft acquires Activision, as even if the company made the Call of Duty franchise exclusive, it will turn as a huge loss in revenue for the latter.

The Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick said that the UK government could be missing out on the employment opportunities from the deal and asked them to think independently instead of getting stuck at finding flaws according to Financial Times.

Previously, the CMA said that if its preliminary findings are approved, the company might get motivation to make the game exclusive, giving it an advantage over the gaming market.

Microsoft argued that while it is one way to look at the situation, making the game exclusive will only result in loss of sale converting to loss in revenue, besides the company aims to bring a variety of games to players worldwide at affordable prices.

Following that, another investigation saw the UK competition regulator siding with Microsoft, claiming that new ‘evidence’ aligns with Microsoft’s claim on the Activision Blizzard acquisition. Although, it is still not conformed that CMA will side with Microsoft during the hearing.

‘The deal is surprising, unprecedented, and irrational,’ says Sony

While Microsoft appreciated the CMA’s conclusion, Sony, the direct competitor to Microsoft, have called the decision “surprising, unprecedented, and irrational”. The company have already been opposing the deal since the announcement in 2022.

Post CMA’s approval, Microsoft will still have to convince many other international regulatory bodies along with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to side with them for the finalization of the acquisition.

Provided the CMA approves the deal, the company will get a significant boost in the market standing. Microsoft is already providing exclusive deals to prove that the company will keep its word of making the games available to everyone.

The post CMA likely to approve Microsoft-Activision acquisition appeared first on G2G News.