Microsoft's Monopoly Scrutiny
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Microsoft submits fresh Activision deal after UK rejects initial bid
The UK competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, has confirmed that it has blocked the original deal submitted by Microsoft in its bid to acquire gaming firm Activision Blizzard.
In a statement on Tuesday, the CMA said Microsoft had now submitted a new, restructured deal for review. Last month, the two companies agreed to extend the date for closing the deal to 18 October.
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Microsoft Activision New Deal Triggers Fresh Investigation by U.K. Regulator
The CMA reviewed the appeal and decided that it did not provide any basis for a change to the original prohibition decision. On Thursday, the CMA imposed a final order which prohibits the original deal on a worldwide basis.
Meanwhile, Microsoft and Activision have agreed a new, restructured deal, under which Microsoft will not acquire cloud rights for existing Activision PC and console games, or for new games released by Activision during the next 15 years (excluding the European Economic Area). Instead, these rights will be divested to Ubisoft Entertainment SA prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision.
The new deal has been submitted to the CMA to review in a new investigation. The statutory deadline for a decision is Oct. 18.
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Microsoft makes new deal to buy Call of Duty giant
The pledge, which will last 15 years, will not cover Activision's PC and console games in the European Economic Area.
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Microsoft wants Activision so badly, it's handing streaming rights over to ... Ubisoft?
Microsoft so desperately wants its $68.7 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard to happen that it's willing to divest cloud streaming rights for the publisher's games to France's Ubisoft.
The largest acquisition in tech history first surfaced in January 2022, but regulators were quick to tap the brakes over concerns that Microsoft, with its already well-developed credentials in cloud gaming, would have the market cornered if the deal went ahead as presented.
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Microsoft's Revised Acquisition Plan Could See Activision Cloud Gaming Go to Ubisoft
Microsoft is still working to receive the required regulatory approvals for its planned Activision-Blizzard acquisition. Despite the fact that other regulators have already approved of Microsoft's proposed $68.7 billion deal, the United Kingdom's CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) has definitively rejected that proposal. In a bid to save its buyout attempt, however, Microsoft has submitted a revised acquisition plan to the CMA. According to the CMA, this new plan is "substantially different" from the one that came before it - in that now, Microsoft is willing to do away with cloud streaming exclusivity of Activision-Blizzard franchises by offloading the rights to competitor Ubisoft.