Microsoft and Activision are not satisfied with the decision and they are ready to appeal.
For months, Microsoft has been pushing to buy Call Of Duty company, Activision Blizzard for $68.7bn.
However, Microsoft’s deal to buy the US video game company has been blocked in the UK by the Competition and Markets Authority.
The block is out of the regulator’s concern that the deal would offer reduced innovation and less choice for gamers in the fast-growing cloud gaming business.
Microsoft and Activision are not satisfied with the decision and they are ready to appeal.
“The CMA’s report contradicts the ambitions of the UK to become an attractive country to build technology businesses,” a spokesperson for Activision said.
“We will work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this on appeal,” they added.
“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,” the spokesperson adds.
Still Committed
Despite the block, Brad Smith, vice chairman and president of Microsoft, says the company is still committed to the acquisition.
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“The CMA’s decision rejects a pragmatic path to address competition concerns and discourages technology innovation and investment in the United Kingdom,” Smith says.
Furthermore, he says Microsoft has already signed contracts to make Activision Blizzard’s games available on 150 million more devices.
“We’re especially disappointed that after lengthy deliberations, this decision appears to reflect a flawed understanding of this market and the way the relevant cloud technology actually works.”
For this huge deal to go through, it has to be approved by regulatory bodies in the UK, United States, and European Union.
