Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of United Kingdom has issued a preliminary opinion on Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, suggesting that Call of Duty be excluded from the deal as a possible compromise.
After a five-month investigation, the UK regulator tentatively concluded that the deal could reduce competition and “result in higher prices, less choice or less innovation for UK players”. The regulator also believes that Call of Duty and other franchises will be essential to the growth of cloud streaming and that Microsoft can eliminate competition by making these games exclusive to its cloud offering.
The CMA suggested that a “partial sale to Activision Blizzard” would be a decision it would consider in order to approve the acquisition. This second VGC extension this could mean selling part of the Call of Duty business, selling the Activision segment to Activision Blizzard, or selling both segments to Activision and Blizzard. Another possible “solution” proposed by the CMA would be a complete ban on the merger.
The regulator says Microsoft has briefed it on its commitment to keep Call of Duty on competing platforms like the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch and says it could potentially consider this type of remedy but would prefer a structural solution such as Activision’s exclusion from the deal . as it requires less continuous enforcement.
According to a recent New York Times report, Microsoft believes that the UK and the European Commission are open to possible solutions and hope they will make concessions and approve the deal.
Source: Tutto Mercato Web
