British antitrust authorities postpone decision on acquisition of Activision Blizzard

British antitrust authorities postpone decision on acquisition of Activision Blizzard

London, 01/07/2023

The UK antitrust authority has delayed the release of the final report on its investigation into Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) now plans to release its findings by April 26 instead of March 1. The CMA is investigating the deal over concerns it could hurt competition in the console, subscription and cloud gaming markets.

The CMA justified the delay with the complexity and large scope of the investigation into the project, which began in September. As of last month, the agency had received more than 2,600 public statements. Of the opinions deemed relevant, around 75% supported the merger.

The acquisition would make Microsoft the third largest game maker by revenue, behind Chinese company Tencent and Japanese company Sony.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission recently filed a lawsuit asking a judge to block the merger because it could harm competitors like Nintendo and Sony by allowing Microsoft to make Activision games exclusive to the Xbox.