Microsoft's planned takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard has been blocked by British competition watchdogs. The reason is the concern that the approximately 69 billion dollar deal could distort competition in the growing market for cloud gaming, the regulator CMA said on Wednesday.
It is already the second major hurdle for the takeover announced at the beginning of 2022: In the USA, the FTC is suing against it. Microsoft wants to appeal against the decision, as the company told the financial service Bloomberg, among others.
Microsoft has a strong position in the business of video games that are played over the Internet. The CMA analysis has shown that it could be commercially advantageous for the Xbox group to withhold game titles from Activision Blizzard only for the one cloud service. Their initial concerns about the console market had previously been put into perspective by the British competition watchdogs.