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A month after the UK blocked the deal
Image credit:Activision
Image credit:Activision
Microsoft’s proposed buyout of Activision Blizzard just received some good news. The European Commission have todayapprovedthe $70 billion acquisition, saying that Microsoft’s commitments “represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming.” That’s a markedly different tone to the UK’s conclusion last month, as the British regulatorblocked the acquisitionover concerns about the cloud market’s future.
Redfall Is UnderwhelmingWatch on YouTube
Redfall Is Underwhelming
Despite months of conversation about Call Of Duty’s potential console exclusivity, the European Commission’s preliminary investigation found that Microsoft “would not be able to harm rival consoles” or subscription services. Instead, their investigations found the deal could “harm competition” in the fledgling cloud gaming market, but unlike the British CMA, Microsoft were able to alleviate the EU’s concerns.
One of the European Commission’s previous findings said that Microsoft could lock future Activision Blizzard King games exclusively to their own cloud streaming services, potentially reducing competition with mega franchises. Microsoft’s remedies includedcommitmentsto bring future Activision Blizzard games to several other streaming services.
The European Commission wrote that “these commitments fully address the competition concerns” and “empower millions of EEA consumers to stream Activison’s games using any cloud gaming services operating in the EEA.” The European Commission joins other global regulators including Japan and Brazil, who had previously approved the deal.
Microsoft are preparing to reverse the CMA’s decision in court. So, buckle up. There are another few months (at least) of this show.
