The British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is putting a stop to Microsoft’s billion-euro takeover of the video game company Activision Blizzard. The reason: concerns about the dominant position of the Windows group. The background.
Around 70 billion US dollars for the takeover of the video game company Activision Blizzard: this was Microsoft’s plan, which was already leaked at the beginning of 2022. But the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is now putting a spoke in the Windows company’s wheel.
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: Britain blocks billion-euro deal
The authority fears that the billion-euro deal could distort competition in the cloud gaming market. The CMA now announced this in an official statement. It states:
The final decision to block the deal came after Microsoft’s proposed solution failed to effectively address concerns in the cloud gaming sector outlined in the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) preliminary findings published in February.
It also said the authority had launched an “in-depth review of the transaction” in September 2022 and had reached the preliminary conclusion “that the merger could make Microsoft even stronger in cloud gaming and hinder competition in this growing market.”
Microsoft wants to appeal
The deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard is thus already facing its second hurdle. The US FTC has already filed a complaint against the takeover. As the news agency Bloomberg reports, however, the Windows company intends to appeal.
The background: Microsoft already has a strong position in the gaming sector. However, the CMA investigation had found that it could be of dominant advantage to the Xbox group if Activision Blizzard’s video games were included in the cloud service. However, the authority has qualified its concerns for the console market.
