It’s a no. Despite the European Commission’s approval of Microsoft’s acquisition of American video game publisher Activision Blizzard, London reiterated its refusal on Monday. The British competition authority (CMA) had already vetoed this $69 billion takeover at the end of April. “Microsoft’s proposals, accepted today by the European Commission, would allow Microsoft to set the terms of this market for the next ten years,” said Sarah Cardell, director general of the CMA, in a statement sent to the AFP.
The European Commission has conditioned its green light on Microsoft’s compliance with measures proposed by the American giant to guarantee competition in the market for dematerialized games accessible by streaming. But these measures “would replace a free, open and competitive market with a market subject to permanent regulation of the games sold by Microsoft, the platforms on which it sells them and the conditions of sale”, continued Sarah Cardell. “We recognize and respect that the European Commission has the right to have a different point of view, but the CMA stands by its decision,” she insisted.
Concerns in the United States
According to the boss of the CMA, despite a difference of approach, “the British, American and European competition authorities are unanimous on the fact that this merger would harm competition in the market for dematerialized games” (cloud gaming). The merger is also raising concerns across the Atlantic, where the US competition authority (FTC) launched legal proceedings in December to block the operation.
In a video game sector in full consolidation, Microsoft, which markets the Xbox console, announced in January 2022 the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, publisher of successes such as call of duty, World of Warcraft And candy Crush, for 69 billion dollars, a record amount in this sector. The merger, if completed, would give rise to the third player in the sector in terms of turnover, behind the Chinese Tencent and the Japanese Sony, maker of the PlayStation.