Microsoft need to persuade the UK's CMA that they should be allowed to buy Activision. And it seems like they've been able to do exactly that, and so they're closer than ever to getting their hands on Call of Duty (and Candy Crush and Diablo and World of Warcraft).
Microsoft has been trying to buy Activision Blizzard King. But you probably know that much already. What you might not know is that the EU and the UK's respective anti-monopoly authorities were the ones most opposed to this deal globally.
The EU was recently persuaded, around the same time that Jim Ryan apparently said: "I don’t want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want to block your merger". But the UK's legal authority for dealing with these matters, the CMA, has only just come to a decision on the Microsoft-Activision deal.
- Quick! Buy Modern Warfare 2 before Microsoft come in and improve the franchise significantly!
UK's CMA Reportedly Approve Microsoft-Activision Deal
According to Tom Warren from The Verge, the UK's CMA has provisionally approved Microsoft's attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard King, because they don't see the deal as substantially hurting market competition. Here is exactly what Warren announced:
BREAKING: the UK's CMA has provisionally concluded that Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal "will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in console gaming services" because Microsoft is unlikely to withhold Call of Duty from PlayStation https://t.co/ABhW8eS3Kd pic.twitter.com/X6xioe6i0C
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 24, 2023
This is not a formal declaration of their decision, which will be made next month, but it gives us a clear indication of what to expect from their ruling. We will update you as soon as we hear any further updates on this breaking news.
Stop what you're doing and download the beta of Diablo 4 to play this weekend!