The purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft has given a lot to talk about lately because one would think that a purchase can be made overnight; however, when it comes to this type of company, there are many filters to be able to complete and approve a purchase. This is due to regulatory and antitrust agencies.
In this case, the purchase has already been approved by Saudi Arabia, but as we have already mentioned, the United Kingdom could stop the acquisition.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has just concluded the first phase of its investigation, subsequently calling an urgent meeting to clarify critical points of the agreement. We now know that it could extend its analysis to rule out any harm to other companies in the industry.
The meeting is to "address urgent concerns," If the concerns are not materialized or resolved, the CMA will conduct an in-depth investigation as part of phase 2 of its inquiry.
UK COULD STOP ACTIVISION BLIZZARD PURCHASE
Sorcha O'Carroll, director of mergers at CMA, said that phase 1 of their investigation has concluded, but they still have issues to clarify to give Microsoft the green light.
From their perspective, the company could "harm recent and future rivals" with the acquisition, as it will have franchises the size of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft in its hands. This could impact the business of other companies that offer cloud gaming or subscription services.
Specifically, Sony and PlayStation are mentioned, as they are the most direct competition for Xbox.
Now Activision Blizzard and Microsoft have a deadline of September 8 to resolve the agency's concerns. If this is not done, the agency will start phase 2 of its process with a much deeper investigation, where the impact that the purchase could have on the competition will be analyzed.
Their main fear is that Microsoft will deny other companies access to Activision Blizzard games or offer "much worse games."
“The CMA is concerned about having complete control over this robust catalog, especially in light of Microsoft's already strong position in game consoles, operating systems, and cloud infrastructure. It could result in Microsoft affecting Sony.
The CMA believes that in the short and medium term, the main rival that could be affected by this conduct would be Sony. The evidence suggests that Microsoft and Sony are closely competing regarding content, target audience, and console technology.
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