Activision Blizzard Acquisition: Light Streaks for Microsoft? EU Commission has decided!

Only recently Microsoft had to accept a sensitive defeat when it took over Activision Blizzard, now another antitrust authority has decided.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a whopping $69 million is dragging on like chewing gum, and there hasn’t always been good news for the Xbox maker. Only recently, the British CMA refused to approve the takeover – a serious setback after several other antitrust authorities had already given their approval. The reason given was the possible impact of the deal specifically on cloud gaming.

Now the decision of another international authority, namely the EU Commission. A decision that was certainly awaited with much nervousness by Microsoft, alongside the British CMA and the American FTC (which is currently still suing against the deal), it is one of the three most important authorities for the outcome of the deal.

But Microsoft can at least breathe a sigh of relief in this case. After various concessions in the form of deals, including with Nintendo and NVIDIA, the EU Commission has now given its approval. The decisive factor was precisely this promise from Microsoft to also offer any Activision Blizzard titles via external cloud gaming services. European Union officials also said they had concluded the deal could go ahead, particularly given the small size of the cloud gaming market, contrary to the CMA’s decision.

The European Commission also said the deal would not harm the console market, as Microsoft would have no incentive to deny competitors like the Sony PlayStation access to Activision titles without sacrificing profits. In the European Union, the PlayStation has a much larger market share than the Xbox. Sony’s main concern, namely a possible Xbox exclusivity from big brands like Call of Duty, has once again been invalidated.

This will certainly give Microsoft new arguments in the dispute with the appeal to the CMA and the upcoming process with the FTC, but that the deal will actually go through in the end is anything but certain. Negative decisions by the FTC and CMA would ultimately be fatal, considering the worldwide networking of the video games market.