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Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has given Microsoft permission to acquire gaming giant Blizzard Activision.

In the news: Microsoft has received permission from the British watchdog to acquire the publisher of the Call of Duty game series, among others.

  • The regulator concluded that Microsoft's proposal to restructure the project was solid.
  • The CMA 's decision paves the way for the largest acquisition ever in the gaming sector. The deal is worth $69 billion.

Cloud gaming, the key to everything

As a reminder, in August, the Redmond-based company proposed transferring the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard's video games to French publisher Ubisoft in an effort to gain British approval for the acquisition deal.

  • The CMA describes the proposal as a "game changer" that will "encourage competition" in the fast-growing cloud gaming market.
  • "With the sale of Activisions cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, we have ensured that Microsoft cannot get a stranglehold on this important and rapidly developing market," said Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA.
  • "As cloud gaming develops, this intervention will ensure that users benefit from more competitive prices, better services and more choice. We are the only competition agency in the world to make this happen," Cardell said.

And now?

Brad Smith, vice chairman and president of Microsoft, was clearly pleased with the British regulator's decision.

  • "We have now overcome the final regulatory hurdle to complete this acquisition, which we believe will benefit gamers and the gaming industry worldwide," he wrote on X.
  • All eyes are on Microsoft. We wait to see what the next step will be to make this acquisition a reality. There will undoubtedly be a lot of movement in the gaming sector in the coming weeks.

Microsofts announced in January 2022 that it wants to acquire Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. That acquisition was the subject of several investigations, both in the United States and Europe, because of the risk it posed to competition in the gaming market.

  • After all, Microsoft is not buying just any player in the industry, but the publisher of legendary licenses such as Call of Duty, Diablo and Candy Crush.
  • As regulators worried about the impact of that acquisition on the market, Microsoft made all sorts of concessions, including deals with Nintendo and Nvidia.

(ns)

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