Game on, Brussels says, as the European Commission approves Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal

THE European Commission (EC) gave the go-ahead to Microsoft’s $69 billion (€63.21 billion) merger with Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.

Brussels made the proviso that Microsoft had to ensure that Activision’s game catalogue was freely available on other cloud game-streaming providers over the next 10 years.

The decision was announced weeks after the merger was blocked by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), whose chief executive Sarah Cardell defended the watchdog’s earlier decision.

It was not her intention to create a hostile environment for businesses in the UK, Cardell told MPs a day after the European Commission approved the merger.

The CMA wanted to “create and support” the best conditions for competition, enabling companies big and small to thrive, she insisted.

The European regulators said the commitments offered by Microsoft and Activision to maintain competition provided significant benefits for competition and consumers.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s vice-chairman Brad Smith referred to the UK’s “unaccountable” regulator, maintaining that the English Channel had never seemed wider for attracting businesses.

“There’s a clear message here, the EU is a more attractive place to start a business than the UK,” Smith declared.

“Global innovators will take note that, despite all its rhetoric, the UK is clearly closed for business,” Smith had said following the CMA’s decision to block in April.

Microsoft and Activision are currently setting up legal team to challenge the UK ruling, although in the US, the Federal Trade Commission is also taking steps to block the merger with a court hearing set for August.