EU approves acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft

EU regulators approved Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The European Commission has concluded that the deal can go ahead thanks to Microsoft’s commitments regarding cloud gaming.

The EU ruled that Microsoft “would have no reason to refuse to distribute Activision’s games to Sony” and that “even if Microsoft were to decide to withdraw Activision’s games from the PlayStation, this would not significantly impair competition in the console market.” harm”. But EU regulators, like the UK, found the takeover could hurt competition around the distribution of PC and console games through cloud gaming services.

EU approves acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft

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The European Commission has now authorized the deal through 10-year license agreements that Microsoft has offered to competitors. These include a free license for consumers in EU countries that allows them to stream all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games for which they have a license via “any cloud game streaming service of their choice”. Cloud providers are also offered a free license to stream these games in EU markets.

These licenses are automatic and mean that consumers have the right to stream Activision Blizzard games they have purchased or subscribed to on “any cloud game streaming service of their choice and play them on any device running any operating system.” It seems that the European Commission has asked Microsoft to offer this automatic license. Microsoft is now going to apply this worldwide.

However, the company is still facing battles in the US and UK. Regulators in Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Chile, Serbia, Japan and South Africa have also all approved the deal. China, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia are still eyeing the deal.

Also see: Microsoft prepares to close Activision deal despite FTC lawsuit