Microsoft proposed to change the terms of the purchase of Activision Blizzard – Kommersant

Microsoft suggested change the terms of the Activision Blizzard acquisition so that the acquisition is more likely to be approved by the UK regulator. First of all, Microsoft agreed to transfer distribution rights to all existing and new Activision games on cloud streaming services to gaming competitor Ubisoft Entertainment. Ubisoft will get these rights for 15 years.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which in April blocked deal, already statedthat it will conduct a new review of the merger, taking into account the changed terms of the deal.

Microsoft agreed to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in January 2022. This deal raised many questions from regulators – first of all, they were concerned about the availability of Activision games for Microsoft competitors, primarily in the market for streaming game services. In particular, the US Federal Trade Commission opposed the deal. True, later the American court allowed this transaction, refusing to support the requirement of the regulator. The European Commission has also approved deal – she was satisfied with Microsoft’s offer to enter into licensing agreements for Activision games with other gaming services.

So CMA remained the only obstacle to the deal. CMA head Sarah Cardell said the new terms were “significantly different from what was previously proposed,” but stressed that this meant a clear green light for the deal.

Yana Rozhdestvenskaya