2023-10-13 10:52:29
The American group Microsoft will be able to buy another giant, the video game publisher Activision Blizzard. The British competition authority, the CMA, announced on Friday that it was giving the green light, removing the last regulatory obstacle to this acquisition costed at 69 billion dollars.
After a refusal in April, Microsoft, which manufactures the Xbox games console, submitted to the CMA at the end of August an amended version of its plan to buy the American publisher for the equivalent of 63 billion Swiss francs.
The software titan is planning notable transfers in its new copy: Activision Blizzard’s online gaming rights – including those for the global hits “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush” – will be sold to French company Ubisoft.
The CMA gave a provisional agreement at the end of September, but noted “limited residual concerns”. She assured Friday that the solutions proposed by Microsoft are sufficient “to guarantee that this agreement is correctly implemented.”
Strengthening in the video game sector
This mega buyout, announced in January 2022, is a very expensive bet by Microsoft to strengthen its position in gaming and help its successful Xbox console compete with Sony’s PlayStation (Japan).
This acquisition will make Microsoft the third global player in video games in terms of turnover behind Tencent (China) and Sony, thus passing Apple.
Fears for competition
The British regulator initially feared that the operation in its initial format would reduce competition too much in the dematerialized games market.
The European Commission, for its part, approved this acquisition in May. The American Competition Authority, for its part, suspended in July the administrative court proceedings it had initiated in December against the acquisition as initially envisaged.
Microsoft challenged the British blockade in court but ultimately agreed in early July to suspend the legal proceedings to find common ground with the regulator.
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