Regulation

Microsoft scores win as competition watchdog allows revised Activision deal

Microsoft’s Activision deal has been provisionally approved. What happens next?

Microsoft’s $75bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard took a major step towards being completed on 22 September after UK regulators said a new restructured deal substantially addresses its concerns over cloud gaming.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority blocked the original deal earlier this year to “protect innovation and choice in cloud gaming”. As a result Microsoft put forward a revised deal in which it would sell the non-European streaming rights to Activision games to Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft .

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