Microsoft Reportedly Expects UK Regulator to Oppose Activision Blizzard Acquisition

Microsoft has been facing stiff scrutiny over its proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard from regulatory bodies all over the world. The United States’ Federal Trade Commission has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company in an effort to block the deal, while recently, the European Commission also issued a warning over the deal. Now, it seems like the United Kingdom’s regulatory body has followed in those footsteps.

As per a report published by the New York Times, Microsoft’s legal team is expecting the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to oppose the proposed Xbox-Activision deal and could issue an antitrust warning regarding the same, similar to the European Commission.

In October last year, the CMA expressed concerns over “a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition in gaming consoles, multi-game subscription services, and cloud gaming services” if the deal were allowed to go through.

Recently, the agency extended its investigation of the deal by several weeks, setting a deadline for its final report of April 26.