UK Regulators Extend Deadline for Decision on Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Acquisition - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 05 January 2023 / 4,565 Views
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK in October 2022 originally set a deadline of March 1, 2023 to publish its final report and decision on Microsoft's proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition as part of its Phase 2 investigation. The CMA has now pushed back its deadline to April 26.
"The Inquiry Group has decided that the reference period should be extended by eight weeks," reads release from the CMA. It added, " The revised reference period will expire on 26 April 2023. However, the Group aims to complete the inquiry as soon as possible and in advance of this date.
"In taking this decision, the Inquiry Group had regard to the scope and complexity of the investigation and the need to consider a large volume of evidence as well as main party and third party submissions, the necessity to allow sufficient time to take full and proper account of comments that will be received in response to the Inquiry Group’s provisional findings in due course and to reach a fully reasoned final decision in the statutory timeframe. The Inquiry Group considers that there are special reasons why the report cannot be prepared and published within the original reference period."
The CMA has previously expressed concerns as the acquisition would give Microsoft control over some of the most popular games in the industry like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
Chile's regulatory authority, the Fiscalia Nacional Economica, last week released its ruling on Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition and has voted to approve the deal in Phase 1. The acquisition has also been confirmed to have been approved in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia unconditionally.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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waiting to see what the US does, lol
If true, I have no idea why a regulatory body would give a damn about what an entirely different regulatory body in an entirely different country thinks about a deal like this. Brazil and Chile definitely didn't lol. And those countries did what the CMA and FTC should be doing. Focusing and investigating how this deal affects their country's markets instead of playing political games.
Just makes them look incompetent at their jobs.
God just approve this thing already.
How hard is this? Is UK afraid to make decisions without big bro, the US, making it first? Maybe the needs EU show them both how it is done.
Either you believe Sony (the dominant console maker by a long mile between the two) saying they will be so harmed if COD is removed that they may foreclose their gaming business and all the while ignoring MS offering a 10-year COD guarantee on PS. Plus regulator would also have to be ignorant enough to believe that MS would be themsleve stupid enough to remove COD and give competitors (ie Battlefield) the opening to be the dominant multi-plat option and in turn devaluing COD and its ability overall to generate billions and doing so would not benefit Xbox much if any.
Or as a regulator you believe the rest of the gaming industry which has come out in favor of this deal and have stated this deal will not affect their business (it isn't anti-competitive) and additionally not seeing it as negatively affecting consumers but rather being a positive move for consumers.
If it is the former make MS do a concession of 5 years guarantee COD for PS and move on. And after the let the two competitors renogotiate after tha 5 years are up just like it is done now. Even then Sony is making 10+ multi-plat GAAS that will be on the market in the next 3 years. They can add a new Socom (I know gamers would love that) or careat another game to that list if they are really that worried (I really don't think Sony is worried about COD at all). Heeck the can buddy up to Battlefield (which they will ahve to because no matter what ABK isnt going to Sony's friend if this deal is blocked). But , for regulators worrying about the effects of the cloud gaming may have a decade from now is like reading palms at this point. You are just making up nonsense. I 100% gurantee whatever we think the industry will be in 10 years' time it won't even be close to that projection. At the start of the PS4/X1 gen nobody would have predicted where we are now in the gaming market with gaming subscription services and mobile being the dominant gaming platform.
Get this deal done or block it but it really isn't that complicated unless the regulator can't find a believable legal reason to block it so they need more time to make something up. What regulators really should be doing is getting on what to really matters working on opening up that duopoly of Apple and Google.
BTW. I never understand why anybody even has issues with WOW with this deal. It is only on PC and has never been on console. Not like MS are going to take it off the PC. They love PC. And if MS turns around and adds it to Xbox (somehow with all those inputs) that is a win for consumers because it was never on a console before not like it was being removed from PS can be an argument.
Edit: if the EU regulators now come out and say they need more time then we know their is some shenanigans going on on. Khan or Biden making a phone call to the EU maybe?
Just to check, by 'Khan' did you mean Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London? He wouldn't have anything to do with the ruling but I can't find another Khan higher up in the UK government.
Ah yes, the mayor of London and the president of the United Sates, need to make a phone call to an unspecified EU governing body to ask what to do with one of the video games publishers. Next week the UN will be involved after Sony sponsors North Korea to invade Bill Gates' rancho
its clear they mean that lady at the FCC in the US
Imagine tiny Serbia and Chile giving approval, but the boot licking UK terrified of acting before the corrupt FTC, or even the EU.
We can all see clearly that those acting objectively will and have - approved this deal. But those corrupt incompetent political operatives with corrupt vested interests....are scrambling to not look like the frauds they truly are.
I seriously doubt that those other countries have governments that are working objectively. That isn't how government works. It's political everywhere, by its very nature.
That said, it is nonsense that these few governments are making a big deal out of this thing. They look absolutely ridiculous and incompetent.
