Last year, Microsoft announced its desire to buy the market’s largest video game publisher Activision Blizzard, but, unfortunately, government regulators were against this deal. It’s all about the monopoly that Microsoft gets, but gradually the IT giant’s lawyers, through titanic efforts, received the go-ahead for the deal from almost all the major players in the market – only Great Britain remained against it. And since this is one of the largest video game markets on the planet, it was impossible to pass by. But after months of court hearings, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally given Microsoft permission to acquire Activision Blizzard.
The CMA is currently consulting with third parties regarding the transaction and a final decision will be made on October 18 at a final court hearing. But Microsoft representatives assess the situation positively and are already preparing for victory. However, the lion’s share of the work in this matter was done not by them, but by Ubisoft employees. UK authorities previously blocked the deal due to the fact that Microsoft was gaining a monopoly in the cloud gaming segment, and this put many major publishers at risk. But Ubisoft came up with a solution that ultimately changed the situation radically.
As a result of the new deal, Ubisoft representatives will receive the right to cloud streaming of all video games that will be released by Activision Blizzard after the completion of the deal with Microsoft for the next 15 years. Accordingly, Microsoft will not be able to make the games of the cult edition its exclusive for quite a long time, but, however, only in the cloud gaming market, which is still stagnating. And since regulators from the UK are the last obstacle to the coveted purchase, it’s time for Microsoft management to break the piggy bank and collect the coveted $67-69 billion.
