back to article Brit watchdog slams Microsoft as it clears $69B Activision Blizzard buy

Britain's competition regulator finally waved through Microsoft's $69 billion purchase of games developer Activision Blizzard today, ending a 15-month saga that turned more than a little tetchy at times. The Windows giant said it can now close its takeover of the publishing house. The decision seemed a mere formality …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Another capitulation

    Why did they then allow this to go through?

    How many brown envelopes must have passed by now?

  2. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    Too big to fail

    Looks like CMA does not understand markets, competition and capitalism.

    How smaller businesses can compete with Microsoft if CMA helps it to get even bigger?

    What is the point of that institution then?

    Just another gravy train, so the people working there can feel fake power and pretend they care while pocketing tax payer money?

  3. Pugnacious Possum

    Embarrassment for the UK

    Not only did every other country allow this to go ahead (including Japan where Sony and Nintendo would be most affected), but the CMA’s point about cloud gaming is just laughable.

    Once again the UK is a joke on the world stage. The much more significant story is in the FT today saying that Microsoft was considering approaching Nintendo in 2020 and how undervalued Nintendo (along with other Japanese companies) is.

    1. munnoch Silver badge

      Re: Embarrassment for the UK

      I'm not a gamer (at least not since the ZX Spectrum went out of fashion...) and I thought the Cloud objection was kind of arbitrary and hard to appreciate. But its absolutely true that all these mega-mergers achieve is increasingly banal products for consumers.

      Just look at the output of the big film studios, prequel this, reboot that, spin-off the other, very little that counts as original thought or content. There has never been more content available ever but its nearly all just dross. I imagine this is what will happen to gaming, but I'm not a gamer, so that doesn't bother me (but I do have a lifelong hatred of MS so actually it does bother me).

      At least the CMA sort of tried to object (I can't believe I'm defending a quango...), but we all knew ultimately where it would end. And that's the real problem. Big Tech believe they are above the law and for all practical purposes they are.

      1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

        Re: Embarrassment for the UK

        There has never been more content available ever but its nearly all just dross.

        Many of those "productions" are just tax avoidance schemes.

      2. Winkypop Silver badge
        Boffin

        Re: Embarrassment for the UK

        “at least not since the ZX Spectrum went out of fashion...”

        What?

        When did this happen?

      3. PhilipN Silver badge

        "ZX Spectrum"

        Pfft - luxury! I am still trying to get past 70,000 on a Space Invaders arcade console.

    2. Watashi

      Re: Embarrassment for the UK

      Activision Blizzard annual revenue for 2022 was $7.5 billion, a 14.48% decline from 2021.

      Roblox annual revenue for 2022 was $2.2 billion, up 16% from 2021

      Yeah, no future in cloud gaming at all.

    3. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

      Re: Embarrassment for the UK

      No the real cause of all this is the American focus on having stupid talking heads. It seems the only real work these leaders do is end up doing dumb things and make a pointless statement.

  4. SW
    Mushroom

    CMA: "You can't talk to us like that, don't you know who we are...!!!"

    MS/AB: "We know exactly who you are Little Englander Man" and look ---- "We got what we wanted all along - but at what wasted cost just to make a government quango feel important"

  5. Rgen

    When will government stand up to big tech. Complain but approve it. Lol

  6. Dan 55 Silver badge

    And as if by magic, mere minutes after the announcement, the button was pressed and the trailer was released.

    They didn't wait for the FTC though.

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      Like this quote in the FTC piece.

      $69B for this:

      “ with a likely addition of Activision Blizzard games in the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, thereby changing the gaming subscription landscape considerably.”

      Expect they won’t allow other platforms to offer a similar bundling.

  7. Roland6 Silver badge

    “ The tone from Microsoft now could not be more different.”

    What do you expect, they got exactly what they wanted and know there is little the UK regulator can do now to impede whatever they have actually planned for Activision Blizzard.

  8. MJI Silver badge

    Still more bothered by Bethesda

    However just means less games to buy, more money to spend on other things.

    OK I do like story based third person games, especially involving a treasure hunter and his friends

  9. navarac Silver badge

    Cloud Streaming

    I'm too old to worry abut this, but I'd like to be around to say "I told you so" if Cloud Streaming of games, does take off.

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