Microsoft's Bid for Activision May Harm Gamers, UK Watchdog Says

The UK's regulator has expressed concern that Microsoft's move to acquire Call of Duty maker Activision may "harm UK gamers."

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concluded that higher pricing, fewer options, or less innovation for UK gamers may arise from the proposed merger, as reported by the Independent. It cautioned that this might significantly lessen the rivalry between Xbox and PlayStation, which would be bad for consumers.

The organization did not explicitly request that the takeover be postponed. However, it has relayed its reservations to the relevant parties and asked for their input on how to fix the issues.

Voiced Concerns

In January 2022, Microsoft made a bid to acquire Activision for $68.7 billion, making it the greatest purchase in the history of both the video game industry and Microsoft.

As a result of concerns that the merger might impair competition, authorities in the UK, Europe, the US, and others have launched investigations into the agreement. PlayStation has lent support to these governments by claiming that losing exclusive rights to titles like Call of Duty would be detrimental to its company.

The CMA shared similar worries and cautioned that the acquisition would likely have unfavorable effects on players. The report warned that the purchase might change the future of gaming and perhaps even hurt UK gamers since it would strengthen Microsoft's dominant position against its competitors.

Martin Coleman, who presided over the inquiry's expert panel, said that there are reportedly 45 million gamers in the UK, and the average citizen spends more on video games than on concerts, theater tickets, or books.

He acknowledged that the console gaming business has been characterized by the intense rivalry between Xbox and PlayStation and those exciting new advancements in cloud gaming are offering players even more options.

Microsoft's Commitment

Microsoft has consistently asserted that it would make Call of Duty, Activision's best-selling product and one of the largest games in the world, accessible on PlayStation and Xbox for at least the next decade. The CMA, however, said it had seen information that implies it would be "commercially beneficial" to restrict the game's distribution to just its systems or exclude the PlayStation.

It is said that with its acquisitions of other developers, Microsoft has followed a policy of "making their content exclusive."

Microsoft has promised to provide effective and readily enforced measures that address the CMA's concerns.

The firm emphasized that for the next decade, players of Call of Duty on other platforms should expect the game to be on par with its PC counterpart in terms of content, price, features, quality, and playability.

According to the Independent, the CMA requested potential solutions to the issues by Feb. 22. It will review those comments and provide a final report on the agreement by Apr. 26.