| Shadow1980 said: Always good to see any sort of major corporate merger blocked, but I'm kinda surprised the CMA's argument was based on cloud gaming and not something like the potential for monopolizing Call of Duty, which is basically like 90% of A-B's business on the console side. I don't really keep up with cloud-based gaming so I'm not too familiar with it, but what does Activision have to do with cloud gaming? |
It's about more than cloud gaming though, they do specifically mention that the deal MAY further Microsoft dominance in multiple industries including PC. They also talk about how they believe microsoft MAY increase GamePass prices after the merger. When it comes to the cloud, the cloud MAY become the default way of playing games in the future and protecting that future from POTENTIAL monopolistic practices is enough to block the sale.
They believe blocking the sale isn't going to harm the industry, allowing it to pass MAY result in harm, however. CMA doesn't want the POTENTIAL risks of allowing the sale to pass, which is what anti-trust laws and regulations job should be about; prevention.
There is no cure in looking back at FB/WhatsApp/Instagram and go "oh, we should've blocked that".
Sounds the CMA is being rational to me, I am only shocked because I have been living in corporate dystopia for far too long and forgot what regulators are for (and I still believe the deal will ultimately pass).
Last edited by LurkerJ - on 28 April 2023
