Update:
Since the EU regulators approved the acquisition the CMA chief executive called out the ruling.
Original Story…
Earlier today, we announced that a rumor was circulating online that EU regulators would announce their approval for the Microsoft Activision Blizzard deal. This acquisition has been a popular subject lately, as several companies have voiced their opinions on the matter. Unfortunately, while Microsoft has been working hard to ensure this deal would go through regulators easily, it’s been anything but that. We recently saw the UK CMA announce that they were blocking the deal.
However, today it looks like the rumors were true. The EU regulators have cleared the acquisition, which is a big plus for Microsoft. This comes after several in-depth investigations of the acquisition. It’s even noted within the press release today that the regulators looked into cloud gaming, which is the area with which the UK CMA took issue. While initially, the deal had several hiccups with regulators as it was thought that the most significant IP from this deal, Call of Duty, would soon become a Microsoft-exclusive franchise. However, after further investigation and contract agreements proposed by Microsoft, the CMA realized that it wouldn’t make financial sense for Microsoft to make Call of Duty an exclusive going forward.
But again, the issue that the CMA took up was cloud gaming which Microsoft will have to make appeals to ensure that these concerns are addressed. At the very least, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard won’t have to worry about going through a series of appeals with EU regulators. It should also be noted that there were a few areas that the regulators found problematic and, as a result, showcased the proposed remedies to rectify them.
Included was cloud gaming, and it’s noted that the remedy offered was the ten-year contract agreements that Microsoft offered. Additionally, they have listed out two bullet points to highlight further the remedies, which you can view below.
- A free license to consumers in the EEA that would allow them to stream, via any cloud game streaming services of their choice, all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games for which they have a license.
- A corresponding free license to cloud game streaming service providers to allow EEA-based gamers to stream any Activision Blizzard’s PC and console games.
It’s noted that these commitments fully address the competition concerns that the commission identified. Of course, we just now have to see if the appeals made for the CMA will also play out in Microsoft’s favor. After all, both Microsoft and Activision have hired some heavy-hitting lawyers to take on this case. For a full approval breakdown, you can check out the official EU regulator press release here.
