The end of the novel is approaching: The United Kingdom would soon approve the purchase of Activision by Microsoft, which would remain at 69 billion dollars.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) He stated this Friday that “it is probable” that the restructured agreement receives the go-ahead.
Microsoft’s new proposal “substantially addresses previous concerns” about the suffocation of competition in the cloud gaming market. This frees gamers from buying consoles and computers, moving on to tablets, phones and other devices.
Activision is the developer of successful franchises such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
Brad Smith, head of Microsoft, explained: “We presented solutions that we believe fully address the CMA’s remaining concerns, related to cloud game streaming. We will continue working to obtain approval, in order to close before the October 18 deadline.”
Sarah Cardell, executive director of the CMA, indicated in the British authority’s statement: “The CMA’s position has been consistent at all times. This merger could only happen if competition, innovation and options were preserved in cloud gaming.”
“In response to our original ban,” Cardell added, “Microsoft has now substantially restructured the agreement, taking the necessary steps to address our original concerns.”
Although The agreement was announced in January 2022, antitrust authorities in the United States and the United Kingdom vetoed it. However, in more than 40 countries, 27 of them from the European Union, they validated it.
The fear of Americans and Britons is that the purchase of Activision by Microsoft would affect competition, harming gamers, especially those who used the PlayStation console instead of the Xbox.