EU Approves Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Acquisition

EU regulators approved Microsoft’s $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. The European Commission has concluded that the deal can pass thanks to commitments from Microsoft related to cloud gaming.

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

EU Approves Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Acquisition

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The European Commission now allowed the deal to go ahead through 10-year licensing deals that Microsoft has offered to competitors. These include a free license to consumers in EU countries that would allow them to stream via “any cloud game streaming services of their choice” all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games that they have a license for. Cloud providers will also be offered a free license to stream these games in EU markets.

These licenses are automatic and mean that consumers will have a right to stream Activision Blizzard games they’ve purchased or subscribed to on “any cloud game streaming service of their choice and play them on any device using any operating system.” It appears that the European Commission requested Microsoft offer this automatic license. Microsoft will now apply this globally.

However, the company still faces 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 all still reviewing the deal.

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