In the United Kingdom, the CMA is concerned about the takeover of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft. The American giant has a few days to convince the antitrust authority, and it will take more than fine words.
The UK competition authority is concerned that Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard could create a monopoly in the nascent cloud gaming market. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which launched an investigation last July, said it has not yet been reassured by promises made by the Redmond firm that the agreement could be finalized.
In the UK, the CMA is concerned about the Activision-Blizzard takeover by Microsoft.
The CMA was under the impression that once Activision was in the hands of the American giant, the Xbox maker could use its “control of highly popular games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft”to “hurt its competitors”by preventing them from access to these popular titles. Microsoft has already publicly promised not to implement such exclusives (and also said that the Activision Blizzard catalog has absolutely no such calling), but these statements have not calmed the authority of competitors.
The American giant has a few days to convince the antitrust authority
In a press release, the CMA is giving Microsoft and Activision another five days to submit proposals that answer these questions. If the answers are unsatisfactory, the authorities will be forced to launch a lengthy “Phase 2″investigation with an independent commission to examine this agreement more thoroughly. This will significantly delay the eventual completion of this acquisition, which will only be possible if regulators are ultimately fully convinced that such an acquisition will not “materially dampen competition”. It’s entirely possible that Microsoft, by all means, needs to keep proving that it won’t use its growing influence to hurt its other companies in the market by stripping them of some important licenses.
And it takes more than pretty words
Microsoft video game manager Phil Spencer has already responded to the announcement, reaffirming previous commitments such as not removing Call of Duty from the PlayStation. Phil Spencer also cited the cross-platform interest in a game like Minecraft, which Microsoft bought in 2014, as evidence of good faith. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick released an open letter to employees saying the company will “cooperate fully”with regulators taking “appropriate”steps to ensure there is no risk to competition.