CMA Blocks Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard

May 12, 2023 1 min read

The Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked what would have been the most important deal within the gaming business so far on April 26, 2023. This choice brings consideration to numerous vital developments, together with:

In dynamic markets, regulators are focusing in on whether or not a deal harms or may hurt future competitors (i.e., innovation based mostly on predications elevating vital uncertainties). The CMA speculated that the deal would “alter the way forward for the fast-growing cloud gaming market” and most popular to keep up the established order with the block.
Regulators are focusing increasingly on non-horizontal relationships and provide chain points, notably if one social gathering is vertically built-in. Whereas up to now, considerations may usually be remedied through behavioral commitments, increasingly offers with a vertical part are actually being outright prohibited.
Whereas the business expects the European Fee (Fee) to just accept the behavioral treatment (license package deal) provided by Microsoft, this case reveals as soon as once more that the CMA and the Fee can attain completely different conclusions when reviewing the identical transaction.