UK Blocks Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Deal Over Cloud Gaming, Microsoft Appeal Coming | MMORPG.c

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UK Blocks Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Deal Over Cloud Gaming, Microsoft Appeal Coming | MMORPG.com

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK has blocked Microsoft's pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard, citing competition concerns in the cloud gaming market.

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achesoma

Think of all the mom n' pop cloud-based gaming businesses that will be saved by this decision.

Slapshot1188

Not unexpected and likely not the final decision. They just want to get something for their lobbyists.

nyxium

The Borg will get you in the end. But this is a good resistance which hopefully will not be futile. This is great news for Sony, at least.

OG_Solareus

LOL. didn't spend enough on the pleasurables.

emperorhades1

I am pretty sure the market puts Microsoft's chance of buying Activision at a 40/60 chance now. Microsoft has an out. They will make more money off the interest by just keeping the money instead of buying Activision at an inflated price. It is not a good business decision. Someone at Microsoft would have to really want the IP and have a massive vision for it.

HighMarshal

Activision Blizzrd is an American company and Microsoft is also an American company. WTF does the UK have to do with this? AFAIK Microsoft is not acquiring all of Activision, so no UK companies are involved.

cameltosis

I........don't get it.

Cloud gaming? Does Microsoft even do cloud gaming? Does anyone else? Are any of them successful? I was 99% certain that each attempt at doing cloud-gaming was an immediate failure.

Plus, isn't the whole reason for this purchase that Microsoft gets their hands on King, and a big leg-up in the mobile market? They don't even really care about the rest right?

I'm just left with the impression that the idiots at the CMA dont understand gaming....at all......which i shouldn't be surprised about really, not many outside of gaming seem to understand it.

urriel1970

sony is behind it...

maskedweasel

cameltosis said:

I........don't get it.

Cloud gaming? Does Microsoft even do cloud gaming? Does anyone else? Are any of them successful? I was 99% certain that each attempt at doing cloud-gaming was an immediate failure.

Plus, isn't the whole reason for this purchase that Microsoft gets their hands on King, and a big leg-up in the mobile market? They don't even really care about the rest right?

I'm just left with the impression that the idiots at the CMA dont understand gaming....at all......which i shouldn't be surprised about really, not many outside of gaming seem to understand it.

Yes, Microsoft's game pass comes with microsoft cloud gaming, it's all part of the package I think. 

If you have game pass you should be able to select specific games and play through the cloud, which actually uses the xbox version of the game instead of the PC. 

Weird because I have both fallout 76 accounts for pc and for xbox and I can play my pc version natively on pc, but if I select cloud gaming it's my xbox console version, so weird. 

I don't know what that has to do with anything though. Shouldn't prevent any purchases.

Xiaoki

cameltosis said:

I........don't get it.

Cloud gaming? Does Microsoft even do cloud gaming? Does anyone else? Are any of them successful? I was 99% certain that each attempt at doing cloud-gaming was an immediate failure.

Plus, isn't the whole reason for this purchase that Microsoft gets their hands on King, and a big leg-up in the mobile market? They don't even really care about the rest right?

I'm just left with the impression that the idiots at the CMA dont understand gaming....at all......which i shouldn't be surprised about really, not many outside of gaming seem to understand it.

Never heard of Microsoft Azure or xCloud?

Sony does cloud gaming. nVidia does cloud gaming. Amazon does cloud gaming. Nintendo has a few cloud games. Google did do cloud gaming but not anymore. Intel is currently looking into cloud gaming.

The only cloud gaming failure of recent attempts was Google with the Stadia.

LOL Microsoft wanting Activision Blizzard just for King is hilarious. Most of their revenue comes from Call of Duty.

Judging by your post here I would venture to guess that it is you that does not understand gaming ...at all. Which, I am not surprised about.

cameltosis

Thanks for the updates.

I wasn't aware at all that Game Pass included cloud gaming. I don't have Game Pass (I would like it, but I boycott EA and MS won't tell me how my subscription is divided...), I thought it was just download and play.

And yeh Xiaoki, ofc I've heard of Azure and xCloud, but only ever in a business service sense. I've set up plenty of Azure servers in my day, I just didn't know there was a connection with gaming.

And the King thing.....that came directly from a whole bunch of articles by games journalists. Sorry they all got it wrong....

ValdemarJ

This decision is surprising given that the UK is supposedly trying to attract tech business innovation and investment with the fantasy of London being the next "Silicon Valley". If anything, this sends the exact opposite message and shows how out of touch the CMA is with the technology sector they're trying to regulate.

Personally, I don't think the FTC case is going to go far because it hinges on Anti-Trust (with a capital A and T) which is a hard one to prove under good circumstances. In the US, Sherman Anti-Trust is often triggered after a business has abused their dominant market position. Nothing has happened yet and consumers have not been harmed (a serious consideration of the Act).

Not sure how the EU feels or how their regulatory body works. I am under the impression that even if there is an initial rejection there is a process of appeals and mechanisms to meet regulations.