Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been blocked by Britain’s antitrust authority.
The regulator expressed worry that the transaction will stifle competition in cloud gaming. Microsoft has already pledged to providing top cloud gaming platforms with access to Activision’s multibillion-dollar Call of Duty brand, but the regulator found this insufficient to meet their concerns.
Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, has emphasized that the business is still completely committed to the purchase and plans to appeal the judgment. Activision has also stated that it intends to work hard with Microsoft to remove the barrier.
Microsoft announced the Activision acquisition in January 2022 in an effort to strengthen its position in the video game sector, which is presently headed by Tencent and Sony. This is the largest purchase involving technology businesses that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ever banned, and it follows the regulator’s refusal to approve Facebook-owned Meta’s acquisition of Giphy in 2021.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Union are also attempting to halt the transaction, and Europe is expected to make a decision on the acquisition by May 22.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.