Microsoft And Activision Heads Respond To CMA’s Provisional Deal Approval

Key staff at Microsoft and Activision have responded to the news of CMA’s approval of their merger acquisition, amended to include Ubisoft.

In a tweet, Microsoft president Brad Smith shared this statement:

“We are encouraged by this positive development in the CMA’s review process. We presented solutions that we believe fully address the CMA’s remaining concerns related to cloud game streaming, and we will continue to work toward earning approval to close prior to the October 18 deadline.”

Xbox head Phil Spencer reshared Brad’s tweet, but did not yet share a statement of his own.

Bobby Kotick has already shared a newsletter to employees, that he also shared with the public. We will cite highlights below:

“As I said when we announced the deal, this transaction will help us accelerate our ambitions for the future of gaming and enable us to better serve our players. Microsoft recognizes the commitment to excellence and creative independence that has served us well for the last 30 years. I am confident that their resources, technology, and tools will provide us even greater opportunities to create even better games.

This is a significant milestone for the merger and a testament to our solutions-oriented work with regulators. I remain optimistic as we continue the journey toward completion and am very grateful to each of you for your dedication and focus throughout this process.”

Activision Blizzard’s now famous Chief Communications Officer, Lulu Cheng-Meservey, has also shared a brief statement on Twitter:

“The CMA’s preliminary approval is great news for Activision Blizzard’s future with Microsoft.

We’re glad the CMA has responded positively to the solutions Microsoft has proposed, and together we’ll continue to work toward completing the regulatory review process.”

For her part, the CMA CEO Sarah Cardell has a message of her own attached to their announcement that they have provisionally accepted the deal:

“The CMA’s position has been consistent throughout – this merger could only go ahead if competition, innovation, and choice in cloud gaming was preserved. In response to our original prohibition, Microsoft has now substantially restructured the deal, taking the necessary steps to address our original concerns.

It would have been far better, though, if Microsoft had put forward this restructure during our original investigation. This case illustrates the costs, uncertainty and delay that parties can incur if a credible and effective remedy option exists but is not put on the table at the right time.”

As of the time of this post, Ubisoft has yet to share a comment on the news.