Last week, Microsoft submitted an updated proposal to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK for its purchase of game publisher Activision Blizzard after the regulators rejected the company’s initial proposal. Microsoft’s vice-chairman and president Brad Smith has now discussed the Call of Duty deal and regulatory concerns.
“I think we need to let the regulators speak for themselves. They have decisions that need to be made, especially in the UK, but from my vantage point, what we’ve really tried to do is take these concerns to heart,” CNBC quoted Smith as saying.
The CMA is now investigating Microsoft and Activision’s new, restructured agreement and the decision deadline is October 18.
CMA’s concerns
With the deal, Microsoft aims to strengthen cloud gaming and offer gamers an alternative to Apple’s App Store as well as Google Play Store.
In April, Britain blocked the initial $69 billion deal to acquire the Call of Duty maker citing anti-competitive concerns in the nascent cloud gaming market. It said that the acquisition could boost Microsoft’s mobile gaming.
“We haven’t tried to dismiss them. We haven’t tried to downplay them. We haven’t tried to ignore them,” Smith said on regulatory concerns.
“We’ve worked to address them, and by addressing them, we have put together a transaction that will advance competition, while also eliminating the concerns on the anti-competitive side that some people had,” he said.
“I think it will be up to the regulators, especially now in the UK, to decide whether that path is clear,” Smith added.
The US regulators also tried to block the deal.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) okayed the deal in May after Microsoft offered remedies that addressed the competition concerns, such as royalty-free licences to cloud gaming platforms to stream Activision games.
Microsoft has struck multi-year deals with Sony, Nvidia, Nintendo and other cloud gaming companies to bring Activision Blizzard content on their consoles and platforms.
“I think we need to let the regulators speak for themselves. They have decisions that need to be made, especially in the UK, but from my vantage point, what we’ve really tried to do is take these concerns to heart,” CNBC quoted Smith as saying.
The CMA is now investigating Microsoft and Activision’s new, restructured agreement and the decision deadline is October 18.
CMA’s concerns
With the deal, Microsoft aims to strengthen cloud gaming and offer gamers an alternative to Apple’s App Store as well as Google Play Store.
In April, Britain blocked the initial $69 billion deal to acquire the Call of Duty maker citing anti-competitive concerns in the nascent cloud gaming market. It said that the acquisition could boost Microsoft’s mobile gaming.
“We haven’t tried to dismiss them. We haven’t tried to downplay them. We haven’t tried to ignore them,” Smith said on regulatory concerns.
“We’ve worked to address them, and by addressing them, we have put together a transaction that will advance competition, while also eliminating the concerns on the anti-competitive side that some people had,” he said.
“I think it will be up to the regulators, especially now in the UK, to decide whether that path is clear,” Smith added.
The US regulators also tried to block the deal.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) okayed the deal in May after Microsoft offered remedies that addressed the competition concerns, such as royalty-free licences to cloud gaming platforms to stream Activision games.
Microsoft has struck multi-year deals with Sony, Nvidia, Nintendo and other cloud gaming companies to bring Activision Blizzard content on their consoles and platforms.
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