Microsoft closes $69 billion Activision Blizzard deal after Britain's nod
Microsoft closed its $69 billion deal for Activision Blizzard on Friday, swelling its heft in the video-gaming market with best-selling titles including "Call of Duty" to better compete with industry leader Sony.
Britain finally cleared Microsoft's acquisition of Activision earlier in the day after it forced the Xbox owner to sell the steaming rights to address its competition concerns.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIndian School of BusinessISB Product ManagementVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Digital TransformationVisitNorthwestern UniversityKellogg Post Graduate Certificate in Product ManagementVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Professional Certificate in Product ManagementVisit The deal was blocked in April by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which said it could give the U.S. computing giant a stranglehold over the nascent cloud gaming market.
But the regulator ripped up its play book by reopening the case after Microsoft agreed to sell the streaming rights to Activision's games to Ubisoft Entertainment, with remedies to ensure the terms were enforceable.
The deal was the biggest test of the CMA's global power to take on the tech giants since Britain left the European Union.
It said «sticking to its guns» in the face of criticism from the merging companies had delivered an outcome that was better for competition, consumers and economic growth.
The CMA said Microsoft's concession on streaming was a «gamechanger», adding that it was the only competition agency globally to have delivered this outcome.
«The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services
