Microsoft will again negotiate with the UK authorities

Literally tens of minutes after Microsoft’s big victory in the United States, good news comes from the UK, which is now the only market preventing Activision’s $68.7 billion purchase of Blizzard.

Microsoft and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have agreed to put the lawsuit on hold to restart negotiations.. The CMA is about to reconsider its decision to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, while Microsoft is considering adjusting the terms of the acquisition to address the issues in a manner acceptable to the CMA.

Both parties said in a statement that it is in the public interest to reach an agreement.. The motion to stay the proceedings must now be approved by the Court of Competition Appeals (CAT). Approval is expected very soon. Only because of this CAT previously denied CMA a suspension address Microsoft and postponement of negotiations from July to October. In the opinion of the Court of Appeal, this would be contrary to fairness and fairness.

Activision Blizzard UK Acquisition Office blocked at the end of April 2023 due to concerns about the impact on the emerging cloud gaming market. Microsoft called this decision bad for Britain, while Activision Blizzard called it irrational. There have also been objections that the CMA misunderstood the market share of cloud computing, erroneously estimating that Microsoft accounts for 60-70% of global cloud gaming services.

If CAT allows Microsoft to renegotiate negotiations with the CMA and some kind of agreement is reached, then nothing will stop Microsoft from buying the publishers of Call of Duty, Diablo, World of Warcraft and other well-known games, including mobile (Candy Crush Saga) from Royal Studio.

However Microsoft is running out of time. It was previously agreed with Activision Blizzard that the purchase would be completed by 7/17/2023.. According to many, Microsoft can close the deal even without the permission of the United Kingdom.

With regard to, How “boasted“ British Prime Minister Rishi Sunakwho sided with Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, and as British MPs they fried KMA leadersso we expect the CMA to back off now and not create problems.

European Union she allowed Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard almost two months ago. The approval of the European Commission was conditional on full compliance with the commitments proposed by Microsoft. These commitments fully address the competition issues identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement in cloud gaming over the current situation. An independent administrator will monitor compliance with them.