European Union authorizes purchase of Activision by Microsoft

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To go ahead, the deal needs to be approved by regulatory bodies in the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. In April 2023, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion deal with Activision over cloud gaming concerns REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo The European Commission, executive arm of the European Union that operates as antitrust regulators, authorized the purchase of Activision by Microsoft this Monday (15). The approval came after they concluded that concerns about the dominance of the cloud gaming market were not enough to justify the block. In April 2023, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) used the justification that the purchase would harm competition in games, mainly in the cloud segment, to bar the acquisition. The purchase worth US$69 billion would be one of the biggest deals in the gaming market in over a decade. The proposed purchase would lead Bill Gates’ company to acquire titles such as “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush”. Microsoft already has a strong presence in the cloud gaming market thanks to Xbox Game Pass, a service dubbed the “Netflix of Xbox games”, which gives access to a library of more than 100 games for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. When the CMA blocked the purchase, Microsoft said in a statement that it remains fully committed to the acquisition and will appeal the decision. Activision also said it would “work aggressively” with Microsoft to reverse it. “We will be reassessing our growth plans for the UK,” said Activision. “Global innovators big and small will realize that – for all its rhetoric – the UK is clearly closed for business.” To go ahead, the deal needs to be approved by regulatory bodies in the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. The CMA was the first of three regulators to make the decision, while the US Federal Trade Commission is also seeking to block the purchase. *This article is being updated

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