The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said that Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard would not harm competition in the console gaming space.

The latest CMA statement removes a major hurdle to the deal, after the regulator previously stated concerns around how it would impact competition in console and cloud gaming. The latter is still a point of contention for the CMA and it said that it is still looking at the impact of the deal on cloud gaming.

In regards to console gaming though, the CMA said that it would not make financial sense for Microsoft to make titles like Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox – echoing statements made by Microsoft itself, which had pledged to continue supporting releases on PlayStation consoles.

The CMA’s statement said: “The CMA inquiry group has updated its provisional findings and reached the provisional conclusion that, overall, the transaction will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to console gaming in the UK.

“The CMA’s addendum to its provisional findings today relates only to competition in the supply of consoles and not to competition in the supply of cloud gaming services, where the CMA is continuing to carefully consider the responses provided in relation to the original provisional findings.”

The regulator added that the deal is on course for completion by the April 26 deadline.

A spokesperson for Microsoft said: “We look forward to working with the CMA to resolve any outstanding concerns.”

The $69 billion acquisition is set to not only be the largest ever in gaming but the largest tech deal ever. Should it be approved it would narrowly surpass the $67 billion that Dell paid for EMC Corporation in October 2016.

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