UK watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to give a final ruling on the ongoing Microsoft acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard this week. According to Financial Times, the CMA may approve the industry-shaking $69 billion Xbox and Activision merger on Wednesday in the ruling that decides whether to block the deal going through or not.
The CMA is one of the biggest authorities that has been involved in Microsoft’s ongoing case to buy Activision Blizzard over the past year. A lot rests on the CMA’s decision as it represents the gaming market in the UK – a sizeable and important region for the tech company. Alongside the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), these remain some of the biggest hurdles that the merger currently has to overcome.
READ MORE – Competition Committee of South Africa Says Yes to Xbox and Activision Merger
If the deal does get approved by the CMA as the report suggests, it could signal a decisive approval for the FTC and other regulators as well though we can’t say for certain yet. Xbox will have officially acquired Activision Blizzard and bought the reigns to IPs like Call of Duty, Overwatch, Diablo, Warcraft and much more.
In related news, the competition committee of South Africa recently approved of the Xbox Activision merger, becoming one of many countries including Japan, Serbia, Chile, Brazil and Saudi Arabia to give the deal the green light.
Should Microsoft be successful in acquiring Activision Blizzard, we can possibly expect a large amount of the publisher’s titles to be added to Xbox Game Pass, further bolstering the reputation and strong offering of the subscription service. That said, Xbox promises that Game Pass prices will not increase as a result of the merger. The service currently offers a large amount of games including select titles from Bethesda and ZeniMax, which Microsoft acquired a few years ago.
Source: Financial Times
