The European Commission has officially supported Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, as revealed on Monday. This deal will mark Microsoft’s largest gaming acquisition in history, with a $69 billion USD value.

Previously, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the deal in April, citing potential negative impacts on the emerging cloud gaming industry. Given the international nature of the acquisition, approval from regulatory bodies in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States is necessary to proceed.

The approval of this deal by the European Commission highlights the increasing importance of cloud gaming technologies within the gaming industry. Microsoft’s strategic objective is to enhance its capabilities in serious gaming and position itself for future metaverse technologies. With the EU’s backing, Microsoft moves closer to realizing its long-standing aspirations.

European Commission  Perspective on the Matter

Brussels noted that the Microsoft-Activision deal has the green light to proceed under the EU Merger Regulation. The approval depends on Microsoft fully upholding the promises it has made.

Regulators have stated that these commitments effectively address the anti-competitive concerns raised by the Commission. Furthermore, they view the commitments as a significant improvement for cloud gaming compared to the current state of affairs.

A wealth of data and strong evidence supports the European Commission’s judgment. The information comes from industry competitors, game developers, distributors, and cloud game streaming platforms throughout the European Union.

For approval, the European Commission posted the full list of licensing commitments that one must maintain for ten years. Free licenses are among these obligations extended throughout the European Economic Area (EEA). The deal’s approval is consistent with Article 1 of the Merger Regulation. This gives the Commission the authority to prevent mergers deemed anti-competitive and harmful to competition inside the EEA.

CMA Stance on the Activision Buyout

While the European Commission has approved the Microsoft-Activision acquisition, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) decision to block the deal has raised uncertainty regarding its success. In response, Microsoft and Activision have appealed the decision and have assembled a large team of lawyers to contest the case.

Microsoft initially announced its plans for the acquisition in January of the previous year. Satya Nadella, the Chief Executive and Chairman of the company emphasized the platform’s crucial role in advancing Metaverse technologies.

The featured image is from Getty images