Microsoft's $68.7 billion Activision takeover blocked by UK competition regulator
has been blocked by the UK's competition regulator, marking a devastating blow to the blockbuster deal.said on Wednesday that the deal, struck in January 2022, risked"stifling competition" in the market amid concerns that Microsoft would make Activision's lucrative games exclusive to its services at the expense of consumers.
According to the CMA, Microsoft already accounts for around 60-70% of global cloud gaming services through its Xbox platform and Azure. The deal, it said,"would reinforce Microsoft's advantage in the market by giving it control" over games such as"Call of Duty" and"Overwatch." Microsoft had submitted a proposal to address the concerns the CMA flagged, but found that the proposal contained"a number of significant shortcomings connected with the growing and fast-moving nature of cloud gaming services.
In December, the Federal Trade Commission sued Microsoft over the buyout, with Holly Vedova, director of the bureau of competition at the FTC, stating that the agency was intent on stopping Microsoft from controlling the independent studio and"using it to harm competition.
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