It Sure Looks Like Microsoft Will Get To Buy Activision After All
It's been over a year and a half since Microsoft announced its plan to acquire Activision Blizzard. Once the deal got underway, it was blocked by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) due to concerns that the merger would give the company a monopoly on cloud gaming. Microsoft recently submitted a revised new deal to address the government's concerns.
Instead of Microsoft acquiring Activision's cloud gaming rights, under this new deal, the rights would be sold to Ubisoft. A newly released report by the CMA notes that this new proposal is important because it means Microsoft could not limit Activision's content to its streaming service. It also believes Ubisoft must act as an independent entity in the market with its newly acquired cloud services to prevent Microsoft from having a significant hold over it.
The report said that in an improvement to the original deal, Ubisoft will be able to offer Activision's content directly to consumers and cloud services in various ways, such as pay-to-play or subscription services. The remedy also states that Microsoft can't make Activision games exclusive to the Windows operating system.
The CMA is pleased
Although consultation on this new proposal doesn't end until next month, the government body said this new plan overall "makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out" when the first proposal was submitted. It noted that it would quell the concerns that big franchises such as "Overwatch," "World of Warcraft," and "Call of Duty" would be under the sole control of Microsoft for cloud gaming.
However, the CMA still worries that certain aspects of the deal might not be fully upheld. It noted that Microsoft has assured that this would not be the case, as the terms will be enforceable by the CMA. Colin Raftery, senior director of mergers and Phase 1 decision maker, said, "With additional protections to make sure that the deal is properly implemented, this will maintain the structure of the market, enabling open competition to continue...."
If the CMA finds this proposal to be acceptable, Microsoft is still not in the clear. Another ongoing consultation about the acquisition determines if Microsoft can purchase any part of Activision, excluding the previously mentioned cloud services. Both consultations will be open until October 6. With the FTC's go-ahead and the CMA's acknowledgment that Microsoft is headed in the right direction, this deal could be getting off the ground sooner rather than later.