The long shoving match between Microsoft and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) looks to be nearing its final stretch. The CMA has given a preliminary approval for Microsoft’s buyout of Activision-Blizzard in the country following a restructuring of the deal back in August that saw Ubisoft earn cloud streaming rights “in perpetuity” for all current and new Activision-Blizzard PC games for the next 15 years.
“The CMA considers that the restructured deal makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out in relation to the original transaction earlier this year,” reads part of the CMA’s announcement. “The sale of Activision’s cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft substantially addresses previous concerns and opens the door to the deal being cleared.”
The deal has still not been fully finalized by the government body yet, however: The CMA has now opened a consultation on Microsoft’s proposed remedies, which is scheduled to wrap up on October 6th. Even so, this sounds like a major step forward to the deal being finalized – a global process that has been ongoing since January 2022; we’ve got all of the coverage below.
