Shock! UK blocks Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition
The UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has opted to prohibit the Activision Blizzard King x Microsoft merger, as announced in its final report released today.
While the organisation found that the emrger would not have a substantial lessening of competition among console services, it did conclude that it may result in a lessening of competition in the cloud gaming space. This appears to have been the silver bullet to the approval process, and the main reason why the CMA has opted to prohibit the deal.
The final statement states: “In relation to cloud gaming services, we found that Microsoft already has a strong position. It owns a popular gaming platform (Xbox and a large portfolio of games), the leading PC operating system (Windows), and a global cloud computing infrastructure (Azure and Xbox Cloud Gaming), giving it important advantages in running a cloud gaming service. With an estimated 60-70% market share in global cloud gaming services, it is already much stronger than its rivals.”