European Commission Has Approved Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard

The European Union has approved Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

European Union Commission Approves Microsoft Activision Deal

As it turns out the EU has decided to go against what the UK CMA thinks and the Microsoft Activision deal has been approved by the regulator. The fact that the EU has approved the deal will put some more pressure on the UK in the appeal against them as well as the US who have yet to decide on the deal. In the investigation by the EU it was concluded that the deal would not harm rival consoles and rival subscription services however it may harm the competition in the cloud game streaming market. According to Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President at Microsoft, the EU has addressed these concerns by requiring Microsoft to license popular Activision Blizzard games to competing cloud gaming services.

UK Regulator Unhappy

As expected the UK Competition and Markets authority isn’t happy with this decision and according to videogameschronicle, the CEO of the regulator Sarah Cardell has voiced the opinion that the EU Commission was wrong to approve the deal. In a section of the statement released it was said.

“Microsoft’s proposals, accepted by the European Commission today, would allow Microsoft to set the terms and conditions for this market for the next ten years. They would replace a free, open and competitive market with one subject to ongoing regulation of the games Microsoft sells, the platforms to which it sells them, and the conditions of sale.”

This was one of the reasons the deal was rejected in the UK and whilst both regulators agree on the possible harm that it could have on the market, the UK won’t be changing their mind based on the EU’s licensing requirements. This is one big step for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, but they still have to fight the UK CMA again and also win the favour of the US as well.

Do you think the deal will eventually go through? Let us know in the comments.