It’s not “game over” yet for Microsoft’s quest to buy the video game maker Activision Blizzard, but the software giant is starting to run out of clear pathways to complete its $69 billion takeover.
A major setback came Wednesday when British antitrust regulators said they would block the acquisition. Microsoft and Activision have vowed to appeal, but the deal also faces legal challenges in other parts of the world.
“If this were a smaller jurisdiction with a tiny population, the companies could shrug and say, ‘We just won’t do business there,’” said former FTC Chair William Kovacic. “They can’t do that very effectively with the United Kingdom. So a U.K. decision to block is basically a global decision to block the transaction.”Nothing for now. But even if Microsoft is able to complete the purchase, the average gamer is not going to notice immediate changes.
Microsoft had promised to keep popular titles like Call of Duty on rival platforms like Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo for at least a decade, but future Activision Blizzard games could be exclusive to Xbox. Streaming games to tablets, phones and other devices has freed players from buying expensive consoles and gaming computers.
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