The UK is ready to lift the ban on the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard – Kommersant

Today, 22 September, UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announcedthat it is ready to reconsider its decision to ban the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.

The CMA noted that this is due to a change in the terms of the agreement and alleviation of concerns that the merger would have a negative impact on competition in the gaming market. The regulator’s decision opens the door to completing the transaction, but official permission has not yet been received. The CMA is consulting with experts until October 6 to make a final decision.

Microsoft agreed about the purchase of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in January 2022. This deal raised many questions among regulators – primarily they were concerned about the availability of Activision Blizzard games for Microsoft’s competitors, in particular in the market for streaming game services. In April CMA blocked deal. Similar position took and the US Federal Trade Commission.

In August Microsoft contributed Changes to Activision Blizzard’s terms of purchase. First of all, Microsoft agreed to transfer to a competitor in the gaming market, Ubisoft Entertainment, the rights to distribute all existing and new Activision Blizzard games on cloud streaming services. Since regulators were concerned about the availability of Activision Blizzard games on such services, this decision essentially removes their complaints.

Yana Rozhdestvenskaya