The British competition authority “Competition and Markets Authority” (CMA) is thwarting Microsoft’s plans for the billion-dollar takeover of the video game group Activision Blizzard. The reason: concerns about the market dominance of the Windows group. The backgrounds.
Around 70 billion US dollars for the takeover of the video game group Activision Blizzard: This is Microsoft’s plan, which was leaked in early 2022. But the British competition authority “Competition and Markets Authority” (CMA) is now making a dash for the Windows group.
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: Great Britain blocked billion-dollar deal
Because the authority fears that the billion-dollar deal could distort competition in the cloud gaming market. The CMA announced this in an official statement. It says:
The final decision to prevent the deal came after Microsoft’s proposed solution failed to effectively address concerns in the cloud gaming sector outlined in preliminary findings from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published in February.
In addition, in September 2022, the authority initiated a “detailed examination of the project” and came to the preliminary conclusion “that the merger could make Microsoft even stronger in the cloud gaming area and hinder competition in this growing market.”
Microsoft plans to appeal
The deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard is already facing the second hurdle. The US FTC had previously complained about the takeover. Like the news agency Bloomberg reported, the Windows group wants to appeal.
Background: Microsoft already has a strong position in the gaming sector. However, the CMA investigation has shown that it could have a dominant advantage for the Xbox group if Activision Blizzard’s video games were included in the cloud service. However, the authority has put its concerns about the console market into perspective.
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Source: https://www.basicthinking.de/blog/2023/04/26/microsoft-grossbritannien-activision-blizard/
