Microsoft is apparently facing issues with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the UK. The government’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has blocked this merger proposition, citing possible monopolistic effects of this deal in the gaming industry.

Microsoft faces a roadblock in Activision Blizzard acquisition in the UK

In a statement, the CMA stated that it is preventing “Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision over growing concerns the deal would alter the future of the fast growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come.” To put things simply, the agency is worried that the acquisition would allow the American tech giant to hold a monopoly in the recently growing cloud gaming market. Since Microsoft announced that it will be buying out Activision Blizzard, it has faced scrutiny from various government bodies across the globe as well as its market competitors.

Microsoft

An example being Sony, which claimed that the company could leverage this acquisition to offer inferior versions of its products (games) from Activision Blizzard on its popular PlayStation platform. Apart from this, it is also facing a pending lawsuit in the US by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) against Microsoft on the grounds that the brand might breach anti trust laws as well and could even establish a monopoly.

The CMA further added that “We have concluded that the merger would result in the most powerful operator in the fast-developing market for cloud gaming, with a current market share of 60-70%, acquiring a portfolio of world-leading games with the incentive to withhold those games from competitors and substantially weaken competition in this important growing market.”

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