United Kingdom: Published updated provisional findings in CMA investigation into Microsoft/Activision merger
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Published updated provisional findings in CMA investigation into Microsoft/Activision merger
On 24 March 2023, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published an update of its provisional findings concerning the Microsoft Corporation/Activision Blizzard merger after reviewing new evidence received in response to its original provisional findings. In particular, the CMA has reached the provisional conclusion that the merger would not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the games console market in the UK since new data indicates that it would not be commercially beneficial to Microsoft to make the game “Call of Duty” exclusive to Xbox following the merger. Instead, Microsoft will still have the incentive to continue to make the game available on PlayStation. The CMA’s addendum to its provisional findings relates only to competition in the console supply market and not to competition in the supply of cloud gaming services, where the CMA continues to consider the responses provided in relation to the original provisional findings. The CMA’s merger investigation continues and the final report is scheduled to be issued by 26 April 2023.
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