Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizens for the clues delivered by Yuansheng, SEALZ, ZSXTZGM, Rache, Qingfeng Langyue and Mr. Aviation! CTOnews.com, April 26 (Xinhua)-- the British Competition and Market Authority (CMA) opposes Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard on the grounds of concern about competition in cloud games, rather than the "call of Duty" that Sony has been talking about before, which they hope to protect innovation and choice in cloud games. Microsoft will appeal against this.

CMA said the deal will not accelerate the development of Activision games in cloud services. CMA stressed that the 10-year agreement proposed by Microsoft is not enough because cloud gaming is new and could revolutionize the industry within 10 years.

They believe that Microsoft's solution is seriously flawed and needs to be regulated by CMA. The chairman of the panel said: "Cloud games need a free and highly competitive market to promote innovation and choice."

Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard in January 2022 for $68.7 billion (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 476.091 billion yuan). CMA conducted an in-depth review of the transaction in September 2022 and challenged it in February 2023.

They believe that the deal may make Microsoft stronger in cloud games, and that Microsoft's proposed solution has failed to effectively address its concerns. It is estimated that Microsoft already accounts for 60-70% of the global cloud gaming market, and has other important advantages in this regard, including leading Windows, Xbox, and global cloud computing infrastructure (Azure and Xbox cloud games).

The evidence given by CMA suggests that Activision Blizzard will provide gaming services through the cloud in the foreseeable future if the merger is cancelled.

Microsoft has given their solutions to CMA's concerns, but CMA has not adopted them. According to CMA, Microsoft's proposal contains some major shortcomings related to the growing and fast-growing nature of cloud gaming services:

It does not fully cover different business models of cloud game services, including game subscription services.

It is not open enough for vendors who may want to provide game versions on PC operating systems other than Windows.

It will standardize the terms and conditions available to the game, rather than being determined by the vitality and creativity of market competition as expected without a merger.

Affected by the news, Activision Blizzard U. S. stocks fell more than 11% before trading, and fell by 10.06% as of CTOnews.com.

Related readings:

Sony Yoshida Xiuhei: do not want the future game industry to be dominated by cloud games, it will be very boring.

"Bobby Kotick responded that CMA blocked Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, insisting that the deal had not been finalized."

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