22 September 2023 , 16:00
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UK regulator CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) has given a tentative all-clear for the Activision deal following Microsoft's reworking to address the body's concerns.
The Microsoft Activision deal has been a long, drawn out affair ever since Microsoft first announced its plans to buy Activision Blizzard for the bargain price of $69billion in May last year. The proposed deal has been scrutinised by regulators the world over, including the US' FTC which tried to block the purchase going ahead. Microsoft ultimately won the battle in that instance and while the FTC appealed the decision, it wasn't upheld, giving the company the go-ahead to forge on with its planned acquisition.
The UK's CMA has been the final hurdle standing between Microsoft's impending ownership of massive IPs like Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Diablo. Xbox boss Phil Spencer's strategy seems to be based on throwing money at the problem of a lack of decent, original IP rather than building and fostering it in-house. This was made all the more apparent in the slew of Xbox leaks related to the FTC case which included internal comms detailing Spencer's desire to buy the competition, eyeing up companies like Nintendo and Valve.
The merger deadline for the Microsoft-Activision deal was pushed back to October 18, 2023 after an extension was granted. In that time, Microsoft revised the intricacies of the acquisition for the UK market and submitted a new proposal to the CMA that included transferring cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft for all past and future Activision Blizzard titles in the UK. And this seems to have done the job, clearing the way for the purchase so long as the CMA doesn't find anything else to gripe about. The body has posted its provisional decision today and all signs point to a 'yes'.
"While the CMA has identified limited residual concerns with the new deal, Microsoft has put forward remedies which the CMA has provisionally concluded should address these issues," it said in a press release on its website. "The CMA is now consulting on the remedies before making a final decision."
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Microsoft vice chair and president, Brad Smith, took to Twitter to say that he feels positive about appeasing the CMA and working towards finalising things in a satisfactory way for all parties before the October deadline rolls around.
"We are encouraged by this positive development in the CMA’s review process. We presented solutions that we believe fully address the CMA’s remaining concerns related to cloud game streaming, and we will continue to work toward earning approval to close prior to the October 18 deadline."
The Microsoft-Activision deal follows the ZeniMax Media acquisition which saw Bethesda's stable of popular IPs like Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and the recently released Starfield becoming Microsoft's property. With the Xbox leaks showing plans to buy up more industry giants, I feel like regulators should be keeping a very close eye on the company so we don't end up with a market-dominating behemoth that can afford to operate at a loss to wipe out the competition.