UK Regulator Blocks Microsoft's $70 Billion Activision Blizzard Acquisition

The U.K.'s antitrust regulator has announced it will block Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard over concerns the deal would be anticompetitive in the cloud gaming market.

microsoft purchases Activision
In a press release announcing the block, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had prevented Microsoft's proposed purchase of Activision over concerns the deal would lead to "reduced innovation and less choice for U.K. gamers over the years to come."

The CMA carefully considered whether the benefit of having Activision's content available on Game Pass outweighed the harm that the merger would cause to competition in cloud gaming in the U.K. The CMA found that this new payment option, while beneficial to some customers, would not outweigh the overall harm to competition (and, ultimately, U.K. gamers) arising from this merger, particularly given the incentive for Microsoft to increase the cost of a Game Pass subscription post-merger to reflect the addition of Activision's valuable games.

Microsoft entered into a $68.7 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard, one of the most popular video games publishers in the world, in January 2022. The studio is the maker of hit games such as Call of Duty, Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, and more.

If the purchase for Microsoft had been allowed to go ahead it would have seen several of Activision's games move to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's gaming subscription service.

Microsoft already enjoys a powerful position and head start over other competitors in cloud gaming and this deal would strengthen that advantage giving it the ability to undermine new and innovative competitors," said Martin Coleman, chair of the independent panel of experts who conducted the investigation.

Microsoft engaged constructively with us to try to address these issues and we are grateful for that, but their proposals were not effective to remedy our concerns and would have replaced competition with ineffective regulation in a new and dynamic market.

Cloud gaming needs a free, competitive market to drive innovation and choice. That is best achieved by allowing the current competitive dynamics in cloud gaming to continue to do their job.

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard was approved by regulators in several other countries including Brazil, Chile, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, and South Africa, but the company still needs the approval of the U.K.'s CMA and the European Union to complete the deal.

The EU Commission has until late May to announce its decision. Microsoft has already said that the company will appeal the CMA's decision. If it fails, Microsoft will owe Activision $3 billion in break-up fees.

Separately in the United States, Microsoft is facing additional regulatory blowback from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which sued to block Microsoft's Activision Blizzard purchase last year. The investigation is still ongoing.

Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass is available on the iPhone and iPad through Safari, but not the App Store. While Apple does allow all-in-one gaming subscription services to be on the platform, every game offered on the service must be submitted individually for approval through the ‌App Store‌ review process.

Top Rated Comments

goobot Avatar
8 months ago

Microsoft, how about trying to match Sony’s momentum with the PS5 and their exclusives on your own instead of trying to buy your way into it?
Pretty sure Sony bought all those studios at some point
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheRealNick Avatar
8 months ago

Microsoft, how about trying to match Sony’s momentum with the PS5 and their exclusives on your own instead of trying to buy your way into it?
Uh that is basically what Sony did, they just did it over a longer period with smaller studios.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
senttoschool Avatar
8 months ago
F yes.

Great for gaming industry.

Otherwise, it'd become an arms race to buy up all the studios.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
headlessmike Avatar
8 months ago

Pretty sure Sony bought all those studios at some point
Most were certainly acquired. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Studios#Studios
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tim6181 Avatar
8 months ago
There's a huge difference between buying small studios, who subsequently go onto make very successful games, most of which were brand new IP than going out and buying a huge studio with existing massive IP.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CJM Avatar
8 months ago
Not sure how I feel about this decision.. Morally I'm against massive tech corps owning whole swathes of the market, but then on the other hand, Microsoft are being really smart with their products and how they're handling cloud gaming these last few years.
Coupled with my belief that Activision is run by idiot suits, determined to ruin their brands with greed whereas Microsoft of today is much better equipped to foster creativity in those brands.
But then again, I really don't want Kotick to get his golden parachute.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 16 4 Web Push

Apple Confirms Governments Using Push Notifications to Surveil Users

Wednesday December 6, 2023 5:06 am PST by
Unidentified governments are surveilling smartphone users by tracking push notifications that move through Google's and Apple's servers, a US senator warned on Wednesday (via Reuters). In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden said foreign officials were demanding the data from the tech giants to track smartphones. The traffic flowing from apps that send push notifications...
best buy snowflakes

Best Buy's New Weekend Sale Has Record Low Prices on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air

Friday December 8, 2023 7:37 am PST by
Best Buy's month-long holiday sale continues this weekend with multiple all-time low prices on Apple's line of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers. In addition to Apple notebooks, Best Buy's event has discounts sitewide on home appliances, TVs, video games, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive...
iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
beeper mini

Apple Puts a Stop to Beeper Mini's iMessage for Android Feature

Friday December 8, 2023 2:24 pm PST by
Apple appears to have closed the loophole that Beeper Mini used to bring iMessage to Android, putting a stop to blue bubbles from Android devices. Beeper Mini quit working earlier today, with users receiving "failed to lookup on server: lookup request timed out" error messages. Beeper said on Twitter that it is investigating the issue, but Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky told TechCrunch that "all ...
maxresdefault

Review: Two Months With the iPhone 15 Pro Max

Thursday December 7, 2023 12:04 pm PST by
Apple's iPhone 15 lineup came out in September, and while most reviews are done shortly after a new device launches, we like to follow up with a longer term review that gives us an opportunity to provide a deeper dive into what it's like using these phones on a day to day basis for months. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been...
apple watch black friday

Apple Watch Ultra 2 Hits New Record Low Price of $699, Alongside Series 9 and SE Sales

Friday December 8, 2023 8:55 am PST by
Amazon has a few big discounts on Apple Watch today, headlined by a new all-time low price on the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Many of these watches can be delivered by Christmas, with delivery dates around the middle of next week for most models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site ...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 May Reuse Existing iPhone 14 Battery

Wednesday December 6, 2023 1:17 pm PST by
Recently, MacRumors has received details on the battery currently being tested on the upcoming fourth-generation iPhone SE, and the information corroborates previous findings in relation to the device. The iPhone SE 4, known by its device identifier D59, is expected to use the exact same battery found in the base model iPhone 14. Partially assembled prototypes of the next iPhone SE have been ...
iOS 17

35 Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 17.2 Coming This Week

Wednesday December 6, 2023 5:57 am PST by
Apple made the first beta of iOS 17.2 available to developers in October. Since then we've seen three more betas, and with each iteration Apple continues to add more new features and changes, many of which users have been anticipating for quite a while. Below, we've listed 35 new things that are coming to your iPhone when the finalized version is publicly released in mid-December. 1....