United Kingdom: Closed consultation on CMA provisional findings in investigation into Microsoft/Activision merger
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Closed consultation on CMA provisional findings in investigation into Microsoft/Activision merger
On 1 March 2023, the public consultation closes on the UK Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) provisional findings concerning the Microsoft Corporation/Activision Blizzard merger. 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 by 26 April 2023.
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