United Kingdom: Issued CMA provisional findings in investigation into Microsoft/Activision merger and opened consultation
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Issued CMA provisional findings in investigation into Microsoft/Activision merger and opened consultation
On 8 February 2023, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its provisional findings following the in-depth investigation launched on September 2022 concerning the Microsoft Corporation/Activision Blizzard merger. The CMA has opened a consultation on its provisional findings until 1 March 2023. Regarding competition in the supply of cloud gaming services, the CMA provisionally found that the merger would substantially reduce the competition that Microsoft would otherwise face in the cloud gaming market in the UK, which could potentially harm UK gamers. In relation to competition in the supply of consoles, the CMA provisionally found that some of Activision's key games, such as "Call of Duty" play an important role in driving competition between consoles and that the possible merger would weaken competition by restricting access that other platforms have to Activision's games, which in turn could substantially reduce the competition between Xbox and PlayStation in the UK. The CMA will issue its final report on 26 April 2023.
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