MS Proposes Revised Blizzard Acquisition... UK Competition Authority's Unusual Reexamination

"Sale of Cloud Streaming Rights Outside Europe to Ubisoft"

Microsoft (MS) has submitted a revised plan to acquire the US game company Activision Blizzard, prompting the UK competition authority to unusually decide to re-examine the case.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

BBC reported that Brad Smith, MS Vice Chairman, said on the 22nd (local time) that he made a significantly new proposal regarding the Blizzard acquisition, so this time approval is expected.

Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said, "MS has submitted content very different from before, so we decided to review it," adding, "This does not mean a green light." The CMA plans to announce the results of the first-phase review by October 18.

MS proposed selling the rights for current Blizzard games, famous for 'Call of Duty,' and games to be released within 15 years, for cloud streaming outside Europe to competitor Ubisoft. This is to ensure that game users can play Blizzard games even without MS devices.

The CMA blocked MS's acquisition of Blizzard in April, citing concerns about reduced competition in the cloud gaming market. MS and Blizzard opposed this and took legal action, but the situation changed since last month. The turning point was when a US court dismissed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s injunction request to halt MS's acquisition of Blizzard.

The CMA stated that immediately after the US court's dismissal ruling, if MS changes the contract structure to address concerns about reduced competition, it would reconsider the review. Bloomberg News evaluated that it is quite unusual for the CMA to reconsider the review decision at this stage.