Pushing Buttons: Why the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger is a fight over the future of games

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In this week’s newsletter: A UK regulator blocked a $70bn acquisition last week not because of any threat now, but over worries about a future monopoly

This might not seem interesting to anyone except those involved with the business of video games, or people with an inexplicable interest in the actions of regulatory authorities in Britain, but wait! Itquite interesting, because the response from these two giant companies has been entertainingly petty.

Activision’s statement sounds downright retaliatory: “The report’s conclusions are a disservice to UK citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects. We will reassess our growth plans for the UK. Global innovators large and small will take note that – despite all its rhetoric – the UK is clearly closed for business.”.

So we’ve spent the past year watching Microsoft and Sony have a public squabble over that issue, and seen Microsoft forced to promise they will offer Call of Duty on other platforms for at least the next 10 years in attempt to assuage regulators’ concerns. But, in the end, Call of Duty was not the real problem. Instead the CMA has zeroed in on the still-nascent concept of cloud gaming.

 

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