Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard’s games characters in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Oct 13 – Britain’s antitrust regulator on Friday cleared Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) acquisition of “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) after the restructured deal substantially addressed its earlier concerns.
Activision had in August agreed to sell its streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment (UBIP.PA), and Microsoft last month offered remedies to ensure the terms of the sale were enforceable by the regulator, soothing some residual concerns.
“The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers,” the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a statement.
Microsoft announced the biggest gaming deal in history in early 2022, but the $69 billion acquisition was blocked in April by Britain’s competition regulator, which was concerned the U.S. computing giant would gain too much control of the nascent cloud gaming market.
Microsoft said it was “grateful for the CMA’s thorough review and decision”.
“We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide,” Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said.
Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Varun H K and Kate Holton
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