After months of back and forth, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared Microsoft’s $68.7 billion takeover of game publisher Activision Blizzard.

The deal – the largest tech and gaming deal in history – was announced in early 2022 but had been held up by regulators who stated various monopoly concerns. Chief among them was the US Federal Trade Commission (though its case was subsequently thrown out) and the UK’s CMA, which threatened to derail the takeover.

The CMA had argued that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard would give Microsoft, which already is the market leader in cloud gaming, an unassailable market lead due to the popularity of games from the Call of Duty company.

In August, the CMA and Microsoft broke through their impasse with Activision agreeing a deal to sell its streaming rights to France’s Ubisoft and Microsoft offering remedies to ensure the terms of the sale were enforceable by the regulator. This new deal was given provisional clearance while the CMA looked into it ahead of the extended 18 October deadline to close.

Now, less than a week from that deadline, the CMA has given the deal its blessing and described Microsoft’s concession as “a gamechanger that will promote competition.”

In its statement approving the takeover, the CMA concluded that: “The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers.”

Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA said: “The CMA is resolute in its determination to prevent mergers that harm competition and deliver bad outcomes for consumers and businesses. We take our decisions free from political influence and we won’t be swayed by corporate lobbying. 

“We delivered a clear message to Microsoft that the deal would be blocked unless they comprehensively addressed our concerns and stuck to our guns on that.”

Reacting to the news, Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith said that the company was "grateful for the CMA's thorough review and decision", adding: "We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide.”

In a brief email sent to staff, Activision Blizzard chief exec Bobby Kotick added: “We’re excited for our next chapter together with Microsoft and the endless possibilities it creates for you and for our players.”

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