The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced today that it will not approve Microsoft’s acquisition of game company Activision Blizzard.
The CMA primarily points to the future of cloud gaming as the main reason why it will not approve the deal. In a press release, they wrote:
Microsoft has a strong position in cloud gaming services and the evidence available to the CMA showed that Microsoft would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service.
The deal would reinforce Microsoft’s advantage in the market by giving it control over important gaming content such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. The evidence available to the CMA indicates that, absent the merger, Activision would start providing games via cloud platforms in the foreseeable future.
It was at the beginning of last year that Microsoft announced it would acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Since then, a number of competition authorities have reviewed the deal, with the CMA being one of the most thorough. Microsoft has already said it will appeal today’s decision by the CMA. However, if that appeal fails, it looks likely that the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will not go through.
