The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority, a British government agency that examines businesses for adequate competition, has disclosed its findings following an investigation of the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the CMA is concerned about the potential acquisition’s effect on games industry rivals, most notably Sony and PlayStation. In a published document, the organization revealed that it’s concerned about “a substantial lessening of competition in gaming consoles, multi-game subscription services, and cloud gaming services.” Multi-game subscription services and cloud gaming services almost certainly refer to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service, which the company has said was a key driver behind the acquisition.
If the acquisition were to go through, Microsoft would have access to not only its own extensive network of first-party games but all those of Activision Blizzard, including heavy hitters like Call of Duty. The same document says that “having full control over this powerful catalogue … could result in Microsoft harming consumers by impairing Sony’s—Microsoft’s closest gaming rival—ability to compete as well as that of other existing rivals.” Microsoft has shared that it intends to keep Call of Duty on multiple platforms, including PlayStation.
Shortly after the CMA published its findings, Microsoft responded, calling the CMA’s concerns “misplaced” and providing a list of reasons as to why the merger would not result in a disadvantaged position for Sony and other console makers. It pointed out that Sony recently acquired Bungie, a handful of smaller studios, and a minority stake in Elden Ring developer From Software and Fortnite publisher Epic Games. PlayStation was also reportedly home to over 280 platform-exclusive games in 2021, which Microsoft points out is over five times as many exclusives as Xbox.
The CMA previously announced its intent to conduct a second phase of investigation into the acquisition.
