Uk, the Antitrust blocks Microsoft on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard

MILAN – Halt the British Antitrust to the acquisition of Activision Blizzardproducer of the video game “Call of Duty”, by Microsoft. The Competition and Market Authority (CMA), the British competition authority, has announced that it has blocked the operation for fear that it could alter the future of the rapidly growing cloud gaming market, thus hampering competition in the sector with a reduction in innovation and a limited choice for UK players in the years to come.

This was reported in a note by the Authority, specifying that the decision was taken after the solution proposed by Microsoft was not deemed effective in addressing the concerns, outlined in the provisional findings of the Competition and Markets Authority (Cma) published in February, for the cloud gaming industry. Microsoft entered into a $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision, one of the world’s most popular video game publishers, in January 2022. The CMA began a thorough review of the deal in September 2022 and February 2023 said the deal could make Microsoft’s position in cloud gaming even stronger, stifling competition in this growing market.