Microsoft tries (again) to release purchase of Activision in the UK
Microsoft is very close to completing the purchase of Activision Blizzard. The last major hurdle is the UK: UK officials have vetoed the takeover. Now, the Redmond giant is trying to convince regulators that it’s all right with the deal.
Microsoft has sent the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) a change of circumstances document.
In it, the company asks the entity to consider the new cloud gaming agreements made with Nvidia, Boosteroid and Ubitus, the European Union’s monitoring of them, and the agreement with Sony to make Call of Duty available on PlayStation for another ten years.
Microsoft also included excerpts from the court ruling that cleared the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the U.S. In the case, the company considers that the sentence weakens the arguments presented in the CMA’s final report.
In addition, the company is working to present a new proposal to acquire Activision Blizzard, to resolve the issues raised by the authorities in a more direct way. This may include selling your cloud gaming rights in the UK.
In response to the new document presented, the CMA made a public call for comment on the documents submitted by Microsoft. This means that competitors can file their complaints at this stage. The deadline to speak out is Aug. 4. The final decision is expected by Aug. 29.
The papers submitted by Microsoft have much of their content censored, so no new information has emerged about the deals made with competitors such as Sony and Nvidia.
UK questions Microsoft’s dominance in cloud gaming
The CMA vetoed Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in April 2023. While officials in other countries worried about the consequences of the purchase for the console market, the British body pointed out that the deal would affect the cloud gaming market, giving Microsoft a wide advantage in an industry that is still in its infancy.
Soon after the victory in the American courts, Microsoft and the CMA announced a kind of “ceasefire”: the company agreed to suspend the appeal presented to the country’s courts, and the body agreed to evaluate an agreement with structural changes.
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard had July 18, 2023 as their deadline to close the deal, and the Xbox company would have to pay a billion-dollar fine if that didn’t materialize. However, with only the UK’s green light remaining, the parties agreed to push the deadline to 18 October 2023.
