Competition regulator had initially moved to block acquisition but concerns addressed
The UK’s competition watchdog has cleared Microsoft’s $69bn (£54bn) deal to buy Activision Blizzard, the maker of games including Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, in a move that paves the way for both companies to complete the transaction.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) moved to block the megadeal in April, citing concerns that Microsoft – the maker of the Xbox gaming console – would dominate the nascent cloud gaming market.
However, last month the watchdog said a revised deal that included selling cloud gaming rights outside Europe to Activision Blizzard’s French rival Ubisoft had addressed its concerns, indicating the tie-up would be approved.
Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive, said on Friday that the competition regulator had ensured that Microsoft could not have a “stranglehold” over cloud gaming, which allows users to stream video games stored on remote servers on to their devices.
