The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that it has extended the deadline of its final decision regarding Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The CMA blocked Microsoft’s acquisition back in April which Microsoft plans to appeal. The CMA was also originally scheduled to make the ruling on July 18, but has now been delayed to August 29. Microsoft had also been scheduled to appeal the decision in a court case beginning on July 28, but the company and CMA paused court proceedings in order to reach an out of court agreement. Part of this agreement is reportedly Microsoft’s rumored plan to sell some of its UK cloud gaming rights. Microsoft recently won its court case against the FTC over its proposed acquisition. However, the company also announced its plans to appeal the Judge’s decision.
Judge Corley’s recent statement regarding their decision:
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history. It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox. It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision’s content to several cloud gaming services. This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore DENIED.
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