Microsoft has been striving to get its hands on Activision Blizzard. The company was sought after for an astonishing $69 billion, but several regulators had to approve it before the deal could go through. While smaller markets were okay with the deal proceeding, one of the big players in the market was UK’s CMA. It was a tough battle as several voices and opinions showcased both the good and the potentially bad with Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard. However, things were starting to look positive for Microsoft towards the end, so it was quite surprising to see CMA come back and shoot down this deal.
CMA blocked the deal, and it was due to the regulators felt Microsoft would have too much control over cloud gaming. So that’s something Microsoft will have to battle with next. But to get to that point, there must be an appeal. Microsoft has hired a big-name lawyer to help with the appeal. However, Activision might have brought out the big guns with their lawyer hire. Thanks to Floss Patents on Twitter, we’re finding out today that Activision hired Lord David Pannick KC.
If the name doesn’t found familiar, this individual is quite a heavy hitter. David’s past clients include Queen Elizabeth II, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Manchester City FC, among others. This individual will be appealing the CMA decision in hopes of allowing this deal to go through. With plenty of lawyers going in at this deal to ensure it goes through, it will be interesting to see what new bits of information come out when the CMA gets another look over this acquisition.
For instance, we’re finding out today that Microsoft has told the CMA that the mobile division is tough to retain players for cloud gaming. In their experience with xCloud testing, most players don’t stick around for cloud gaming very long. Instead, they are finding more developers are opting to make mobile dedicated versions of a game to bring out into the market. This is also due to the fact that mobile devices are far more powerful, which allows these games to run without the need for cloud gaming. At any rate, it will be a good while before we start to see any news regarding the appeal going through.
