Microsoft submits new Activision deal to UK regulator
Microsoft has submitted a new proposal to Britain's competition regulator for the acquisition of video gaming giant Activision Blizzard, the watchdog said Tuesday, after a previous version of the deal was blocked.
Xbox-owner Microsoft launched a bid for Activision Blizzard early last year, seeking to establish the world's third biggest gaming firm by revenue after China's Tencent and Japan's PlayStation maker Sony.
But the $69 billion deal for the purchase of the owner of game titles including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush has faced significant scrutiny by regulators.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it has «opened a new phase 1 investigation into a new, restructured deal by Microsoft to buy Activision».
It added that the new deal follows confirmation by the regulator that «the original deal would be blocked to protect innovation and choice in cloud gaming».
Under the new proposed deal «Microsoft will not acquire cloud rights for existing Activision PC and console games, or for new games released by Activision during the next 15 years (this excludes the European Economic Area),» the CMA said.
Instead these rights will be divested to French game developer Ubisoft Entertainment prior to Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, according to the CMA.
Ubisoft will in particular have «the ability to supply Activision's gaming content to all cloud gaming service providers (including to Microsoft itself)».
«This will allow gamers to access Activision's games in different ways, including through cloud-based multigame subscription services,» Sarah Cardell, the CMA chief executive, said.
— Confidence — Cardell added that «this is not a green light».
«Our goal has not changed — any future
