The British competition authority (CMA), which had vetoed the takeover bid of the American video game publisher Activision Blizzard by Microsoft at the end of April for 69,000 million dollars, reiterated its position on Monday after giving the green light from Brussels to this operation. .
“Microsoft’s proposals, accepted today by the European Commission, would allow Microsoft to set the terms of this market for the next ten years,” said Sarah Cardell, director general of the CMA, in a statement sent to AFP.
“The CMA maintains its decision”
The European Commission, which approved this acquisition on Monday, conditioned its green light on Microsoft’s compliance with the measures proposed by the US giant to guarantee competition in the market for dematerialized games accessible by streaming.
But these measures “would replace a free, open and competitive market with a market subject to permanent regulation of the games sold by Microsoft, the platforms on which it sells them and the conditions of sale”, continues Sarah Cardell.
competition issues
The CMA announced on April 26 its decision to block the mega-merger, considering that the risks were too high for competition. Microsoft immediately announced that it would appeal to the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).
According to the head of the CMA, despite the difference in approach, “the British, American and European competition authorities are unanimous in the fact that this merger would harm competition in the market for dematerialized games” (“cloud gaming “).
The merger is also raising concerns on the other side of the Atlantic, where the US competition authority (FTC) launched legal proceedings in December to block the deal.
In a video game sector in full consolidation, Microsoft, which markets the Xbox console, announced in January 2022 the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, publisher of hits such as “Call of Duty”, “World of Warcraft” and “Candy Crush”. for 69 billion dollars, a record amount in this sector. The merger, if completed, would give rise to the third player in the sector in terms of turnover, behind the Chinese Tencent and the Japanese Sony, manufacturer of the PlayStation.
Source: BFM TV
