British regulator intends to approve Microsoft’s deal with Activision

UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) statedthat an updated version of the deal to purchase Activision Blizzard by the corporation Microsoft has almost eliminated the previous claims and “opens the door” for its completion.

The British regulator blocked the merger Microsoft and Activision Blizzard in April, fearing that the tech giant would make the games of one of the largest game developers and publishers exclusive to its own cloud gaming service. On August 22, Microsoft announced that suggested The CMA is a new deal that would see cloud rights to all existing Activision games released over the next 15 years transferred to Ubisoft Entertainment.

As a result, Microsoft will “neither be able to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service – Xbox Cloud Gaming, nor solely control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for competing services,” the corporation emphasized then.

“The CMA considers that the restructured transaction introduces important changes that substantially address the concerns raised in relation to the original transaction earlier this year,” the regulator said in a statement today.

At the same time, the CMA noted that they still have some concerns in connection with the new agreement, and the corporation itself has proposed legal remedies that should solve these problems. Consultations on the proposed measures will last until October 6.

In the most Microsoft expressed their excitement at this development. “We will continue to work to obtain approval to close the transaction before the October 18 deadline,” said corporate president Brad Smith (quote according to Reuters).

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, in turn, statedthat the approval of the British regulator is crucial for the completion of the merger of the two corporations.

The deal became known in January last year. Microsoft announced its agreement, calling it the largest in the history of gaming (and its own). The deal with Activision Blizzard is worth $68.7 billion ($95 per share). According to the Financial Times, if the deal goes through, Microsoft will become the third-largest gaming company in terms of revenue after China’s Tencent and Japan’s Sony.

In May, the deal was approved by the European Commission, and in July by the San Francisco court; earlier, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTS) demanded a temporary ban on it.