The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved the $69bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, after 21 months of legal blockades.

Approval was granted by the CMA after Microsoft revised a deal which involved its licensing cloud streaming rights outside of the European Economic Area to Activision’s past and future catalogue, including games such as Call of Duty, to Ubisoft, a French games publisher.

Chief executive at the CMA, Sarah Cardell, said: “The CMA is resolute in its determination to prevent mergers that harm competition and deliver bad outcomes for consumers and businesses. We take our decisions free from political influence and we won’t be swayed by corporate lobbying.” 

The deal was initially blocked by the CMA after it had cited concerns that Microsoft would dominate the cloud gaming market.

However, the regulator said last month that a revised deal that included selling cloud gaming rights outside Europe to Ubisoft would substantially address its concerns.

Cardell added: “With the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, we’ve made sure Microsoft can’t have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market. As cloud gaming grows, this intervention will ensure people get more competitive prices, better services and more choice. We are the only competition agency globally to have delivered this outcome. 

“But businesses and their advisors should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA. Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn’t work. Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money.”

Chair of the independent panel which reviewed the original Microsoft deal, Martin Coleman, added: “Cloud gaming is an important new way for gamers to access games and this deal could have seriously undermined its potential development. On that we, the European Commission and the US Federal Trade Commission are in full agreement. Where we differ is on how we solve that problem. We rejected a solution put to us by the parties which would have left Microsoft with too much control.

“We now have a new transaction in which the cloud distribution of Activision games, old and new, is taken away from Microsoft and put into the hands of Ubisoft, an independent party who is committed to widening access to the games. That’s better for competition, better for consumers and better for economic growth.”

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