The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is considering Microsoft’s takeover of game developer Activision Blizzard, has changed its mind on the deal. Now, the regulator believes that Microsoft does not threaten the market for console games.
Doubts were raised when Sony stepped in, raising concerns about the Call of Duty franchise, recalls ArsTechnica.
Sony’s PlayStation providers have indicated to regulators that Microsoft could take a monopoly position on the game and use it only on its own devices.
The CMA tentatively concluded last month that the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard merger could harm competition in the console gaming market.
CMA representatives said there could be a situation where “Microsoft finds it commercially viable to make Activision games exclusive to its consoles (or available on PlayStation under significantly worse conditions).”
In response, Microsoft representatives continued to defend their position and submitted new data to the regulator for its consideration. As a result, the CMA announced that it had received “a significant number of new arguments.”
“After reviewing the additional evidence provided, we conclude that the merger will not materially reduce competition in console gaming services, as Microsoft’s cost of keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation outweighs any benefit of taking such action,” the statement said. CMA panel chair Martin Coleman.
The updated findings specifically highlight the lack of financial foundation for Sony’s concerns. The document explored several scenarios that the agency “considered plausible,” and in each of them, all parties suffer “significant financial losses.”
As such, Microsoft has no objective economic incentive to limit the Call of Duty franchise.
The new twist in the case, as insiders suggest, will make it easier for Microsoft to get UK approval to merge with Activision Blizzard.
But the company still needs to convince regulators that the deal won’t hurt competition in the cloud gaming market, where Microsoft already accounts for about 60-70% of cloud gaming services globally.
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
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