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Microsoft/Activision Blizzard Acquisition - Information Thread, update: The Deal Has Closed

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Microsoft/Activision Blizzard Acquisition - Information Thread, update: UK CMA has BLOCKED the merger over cloud gaming concerns
  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Microsoft/Activision Blizzard Acquisition - Information Thread, update: UK CMA has BLOCKED the deal over cloud gaming concerns
crispy4000

crispy4000

Posted
Posted

Sounds like the CMA was convinced that cloud gaming is going to boom soon.  Do they have issues with internet speeds and data caps in the UK?  I seem to remember Digital Foundry complaining about it at some point, Richard saying he has to pay out the butt just to get GeForce Now to an acceptable place (for an enthusiast).

 

There's really only one part of their response that pertains to the console market.

 

Quote

The CMA carefully considered whether the benefit of having Activision’s content available on Game Pass outweighed the harm that the merger would cause to competition in cloud gaming in the UK. The CMA found that this new payment option, while beneficial to some customers, would not outweigh the overall harm to competition (and, ultimately, UK gamers) arising from this merger, particularly given the incentive for Microsoft to increase the cost of a Game Pass subscription post-merger to reflect the addition of Activision’s valuable games.

 

Technically, there's already a cloud gaming price hike in place right now.  You need both an XBL Gold and Games Pass subscription (ie: Ultimate) to use it.  It's possible Microsoft would have more incentive to raise the price of that package, but they could keep the Gold-less (online & cloud gaming disabled) Games Pass a little more reasonable perhaps.

 

Not that it would address the CMA's concerns here.

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crispy4000

crispy4000

Posted
Posted
37 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Phil Spencer should just hand in his resignation today.

 

Especially since the EU now has a clear path to block as well if they're so inclined.

 

Would they really be able to backpedal like that?  They already made their decision.

 

Phil shouldn't be worried about his job.  Microsoft isn't going to blame him for a ruling no one at the company will agree with.

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

So apparently ABK just threatened to stop doing business in the UK. Could they still block the deal if MS and ABK just said, “Yeah, we won’t ship products to your island anymore”? Would not being in that market actually change anything?

 

Yes, if there is no market nexus in the UK, then there is nothing for the CMA to regulate.

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crispy4000

crispy4000

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

So apparently ABK just threatened to stop doing business in the UK. Could they still block the deal if MS and ABK just said, “Yeah, we won’t ship products to your island anymore”? Would not being in that market actually change anything?

 

Source?  That's wild.

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BloodyHell

BloodyHell

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Source?  That's wild.

78Juhdmpi7siBfQuY4gsUY-1200-80.jpg

Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal has been blocked by the UK, Microsoft to appeal | Windows Central

WWW.WINDOWSCENTRAL.COM
Microsoft's Activision deal suffers a devastating blow.


They don’t outright say it, but they talk about re-evaluating business in the UK, calling it closed for business.

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BloodyHell

BloodyHell

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Ehhhhhh - ABK isn't going to walk away from selling products in the UK market as that's the veritable definition of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.

 

What they will do is not invest in UK-based operations like studios, not that I believe that they were ever actually going to do that anyway.

It would be a hell of a News cycle if they did though.

 

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Keyser_Soze

Keyser_Soze

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Ehhhhhh - ABK isn't going to walk away from selling products in the UK market as that's the veritable definition of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.

 

What they will do is not invest in UK-based operations like studios, not that I believe that they were ever actually going to do that anyway.

 

They stopped selling games in China which is a much bigger market than the UK, so they could back out of the UK as well!

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SuperSpreader

SuperSpreader

Posted
Posted
27 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Ehhhhhh - ABK isn't going to walk away from selling products in the UK market as that's the veritable definition of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.

 

What they will do is not invest in UK-based operations like studios, not that I believe that they were ever actually going to do that anyway.

 

Microsoft is heavily invested in UK studios however 

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SuperSpreader

SuperSpreader

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

They stopped selling games in China which is a much bigger market than the UK, so they could back out of the UK as well!

 

No one buys games in China. That's the game industries El Dorado, they'll all die in the desert looking for that golden city. It's a totally different monetization scheme and very flavor of the month. 

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, SuperSpreader said:

 

Microsoft is heavily invested in UK studios however 

 

Sure, and MS could shift those operations to other markets if the economic incentive existed to do so (i.e., other markets providing significant tax incentives).  But that's really the only condition that I see that would cause that to happen.  It would be business malpractice to shift operations from the UK -- which does offer economic incentives for game development -- to another location that doesn't offer the same or greater economic incentives simply out of spite.

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