The European Union has provided its blessing to Microsoft’s $68.7 billion takeover of games publisher Activision Blizzard.

While the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) previously said no to the deal on the basis that it would inhibit competition in cloud gaming, the EU’s green light could prompt other significant regulators such as those in China and South Korea to follow suit.

Contrasting with the UK’s position, European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager told reporters that the licencing deals that Microsoft had agreed with the likes of Nvidia and Nintendo “significantly improve the condition for cloud game streaming compared to the present situation, which is why we actually consider them pro-competitive."

Specifically on cloud gaming – the main point of contention for the UK – the regulator added: "[The CMA] see this market developing faster than we would think. There is a bit of a paradox here, because we think that the remedies that we have taken ... will allow for licensing to many, many more in the cloud gaming markets."

Microsoft president Brad Smith echoed this sentiment, saying: "The European Commission has required Microsoft to licence popular Activision Blizzard games automatically to competing cloud gaming services. This will apply globally and will empower millions of consumers worldwide to play these games on any device they choose.”

While cloud gaming accounted for only one per cent of the total market in 2022, the CMA argued that streaming is the most rapidly growing sector in the space. It said that Microsoft already accounts for an estimated 60-70 per cent of global cloud gaming services and argued that "the evidence available to the CMA showed that Microsoft would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service."

Microsoft has said that it will appeal the decision to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, with a decision expected to take months. The Xbox company will likely lean on the ruling from the EU as grounds for the CMA to reconsider its position.

The deal, the largest ever in tech history, has so far been approved by Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Chile, Serbia, Japan, and South Africa. China, South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia, while it will also face a significant challenge from the US’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which is expected to follow the lead of the UK.

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