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The latest update from the Competition and Marketing Authority in the UK have started to change their tune on the Activision Blizzard acquisition for Microsoft.
After initially coming out against the deal going through in February, the CMA is now saying they doubt that the deal will have hardly any impact on console competition. It also said that it is highly unlikely Microsoft would go through with making Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive in the future, due to the massive potential of losing money on the deal if they did so.
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One of the biggest reasons for this change in stance comes from a better understanding of how dominant the PlayStation brand is in the console market. Not only that, but a very large majority of Call of Duty players buy the game on their PlayStation console every year. Essentially, the CMA now believes that if Microsoft were to move Call of Duty to being an Xbox exclusive, the massive amount of sales they would lose out on would be harmful to themselves in a way that doing it wouldn’t make sense.
While the message has been massively turned on the impact the Activision Blizzard deal would have on the console market had turned, the conversation around cloud gaming is still underway. They are not due to have their final conclusions on the deal until April 26, and stated today that that part of the investigation has not been altered yet.
In general, the change in tone by the CMA is a massive good sign for Microsoft getting the Activision Blizzard acquisition to go through. That doesn’t mean the deal is done yet, as the Federal Trade Commission has their own antitrust lawsuit coming up. That being said, it seems people are starting to believe the deal will go through, with Activision Blizzard’s stock price skyrocketing to its highest point since before its sexual harassment and discrimination suit became public years ago.
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There are still questions at play, but the way things are trending, Sony may be forced into accepting one of Microsoft’s recent ten year agreement deals for Call of Duty.
