United Kingdom challenges Activision Blizzard's purchase by Microsoft and Xbox

The Competition and Markets Authority (hereinafter CMA), the organization that regulates the UK market and monitors the practice of competitive activities, has called for a second investigation into Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard. The results of the first investigation, published on September 1, concluded that the transaction may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom."

The results of that investigation themselves hope that, in the face of the second review, Microsoft will "offer acceptable undertakings to address these competition concerns." The agency's main fears are twofold: first, that the deal will "withhold or degrade" Activision Blizzard games on other consoles and subscription services; and second, that the Redmond company will put up new entry barriers and exclude rivals from cloud gaming services.

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In other words, the CMA sees it as dangerous that sagas such as Call of Duty become exclusive (something that has already been flatly denied) or that Microsoft can restrict cross-play of, namely Overwatch 2, with Sony consoles. And it is precisely the Japanese company that the investigation cites. The acquisition may be “harming consumers by impairing Sony's - Microsoft's closest gaming rival - ability to compete.”

Microsoft has until September 8 to respond to the CMA's concerns but has been encouraged to make the first statement on this initial analysis. Brad Smith, the company's vice president, said they are "ready to work with the CMA on next steps and address any of its concerns. Sony, as the industry leader, says it is worried about Call of Duty, but we’ve said we are committed to making the same game available on the same day on both Xbox and PlayStation. We want people to have more access to games, not less."

Even Bobby Kotick, Activision Bliizzard's CEO, has issued a letter to his employees in which he assures that everything is on schedule and that they continue to expect the process to be completed by the end of the current fiscal year (which runs through June 30, 2023). "We are fortunate to have already received approvals from a couple of countries, and the process with all of the regulators is generally moving along as we expected," the missive reads. It also promises that there will be more regular updates on the process going forward. It goes no further.

Source | Games Industry