EU Commission approves Microsoft & Activision Blizzard merger

Another national market authority has officially given approval for Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard to go through. After quite a stretch of scrutiny and hearings, the European Union Commission has officially given the okay for the deal, pending various stipulations Microsoft must satisfy in regards to its dominance in the cloud gaming market. This approval makes the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority one of the last remaining holdouts on the deal’s closure.

The European Commission announced its decision in a press release on the European Union website on May 15, 2023. The EU wrote that the results of the decision would require Microsoft and Xbox to meet further stipulations that have yet to be satisfied:

The European Commission's conditional approval of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard marks another major milestone for the deal's closing.
Source: Image via Xbox

Microsoft’s dominance in the cloud gaming market has been a centerpiece of concerns by global market authorities regarding the $68.7 billion USD deal. It’s a concern that Microsoft has worked to assuage by signing multiple deals with smaller cloud gaming platforms such as Ubitus and Boosteroid to bring its games to their platforms. The stipulations call for further action on Microsoft’s part to ensure it doesn’t remain in too much control of the cloud gaming market, which was a sentiment echoed by the CMA when it blocked the deal. Nonetheless, Activision Blizzard felt it was a positive step forward towards the deal’s possible closure with CEO Bobby Kotick commenting on the matter:

The EC conducted an extremely thorough, deliberate process to gain a comprehensive understanding of gaming. As a result, they approved our merger with Microsoft, although they required stringent remedies to ensure robust competition in our rapidly growing industry. We have deep roots in Europe. Our company was founded in France. Candy Crush—one of our most successful franchises—was created in Sweden. And the senior leadership of our company comes from across the EU, including Austria, Germany, and Sweden.

We intend to meaningfully expand our investment and workforce throughout the EU, and we’re excited for the benefits our transaction brings to players in Europe and around the world. The majority of the world’s gamers play on mobile phones. Europe has played a pivotal role in the development of gaming, especially mobile gaming, and we expect European game developers will continue to drive growth and innovation. Our talented teams in Sweden, Spain, Germany, Romania, Poland and many other European countries have the skills, ambition, and government support needed to compete effectively on a global scale. We expect these teams to grow and prosper given their governments’ firm but pragmatic approach to gaming.

Currently, the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal still faces challenges from the US Federal Trade Commission and CMA, but has lawyered up bigtime for the latter. As we await further developments in the situation, stay tuned for more details here at Shacknews.