UK blocks Activision Blizzard acquisition over concerns over cloud gaming competition. The UK Competition and Markets Authority has blocked Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The regulator is doing so because of concerns that the acquisition could disrupt competition in the cloud gaming market. The companies are appealing.
The CMA published its decision to block the acquisition on Wednesday. The regulator concluded after a months-long investigation that the acquisition would
“..change the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, resulting in less innovation and less choice for UK gamers in the coming years.”
The decision comes as a surprise; CMA was expected to approve the acquisition on Wednesday, after it recently withdrew concerns about competition in the console market.
The market watchdog says that Microsoft has failed to adequately address the regulator’s concerns about competition in the cloud gaming sector. “Microsoft has a strong position in cloud gaming services, and the evidence available to the CMA showed that Microsoft would find it commercially advantageous to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service.” Activision would offer its games via cloud platforms” in the foreseeable future” without the merger.
