Britain’s competition watchdog will stand by its decision despite respecting the EU’s “different view” on Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard.
The British competition watchdog (CMA) shocked many followers of the biggest acquisition in the history of the video game industry by blocking Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard Studios. Contrary to expectations, they opposed it without mentioning the importance of games like Call of Duty, this time expressing their concern about the effect of the deal on the cloud gaming industry in this country.
Both sides of this transaction had strong and confident statements about this issue and each of them announced on several occasions that they will protest against this decision. However, the EU Commission approved the deal, citing Microsoft’s commitment to fully address competition concerns and strive to improve cloud gaming compared to the current situation.
Now CMA Referring to this decision, he announced on Twitter that “the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union unanimously agree that this merger will harm competition and cloud gaming. The CMA has concluded that cloud gaming must continue to operate as an open and competitive market to rapidly develop innovation and choice in the field.”
CMA’s explanation continues: “Microsoft’s proposals, accepted today by the EU Commission, allow Microsoft to determine the terms and conditions of this market for the next 10 years. They replace an open and free market with a space subject to the constant regulation of this company and [مایکروسافت مدام] It determines the platforms and terms of sale of games on it.
This is one of the reasons why the independent CMA group rejected Microsoft’s proposals and blocked the deal. Despite recognizing the different point of view of the European Union and respecting it, this institution still insists on its decision.
But the reason why Microsoft will not leave the British market after this decision is that this company currently has 60-70% of the cloud gaming market share. In other words, Britain is considered the most important geographical region for Microsoft’s market after America; Especially with their unsuccessful attempts to gain a foothold in the Japanese market in recent years.
As always, only time will tell where these struggles will end. But even if the CMA were to reverse its decision, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard would still need to defeat the Federal Trade Commission in formal court to finalize their deal. Even before the UK government objected to the deal, the FTC made clear in January that no settlement talks had taken place. This institution continues to form its opinion independently.
