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Spencer questions CMA logic in blocking Microsoft Activision deal

Spencer questions CMA logic in blocking Microsoft Activision deal

The head of Xbox Phil Spencer has questioned the CMA's logic in blocking Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Speaking to the Kinda Funny xCast, the exec said that the UK regulator's reasoning for stopping the deal sits on a definition of the cloud games market that "doesn't really exist yet". Regardless, Spencer said that he remains "confident" that the acquisition will close.

"I think there are like 14 jurisdictions all up we're working on approval," he said.

"I think we have nine approvals so far. But the CMA decision was disappointing. I've been talking to that group for coming up on a year. They've defined a market of cloud gaming that in my mind doesn't really exist yet today. But they have a point of view that maybe we have a lead in a market that is just forming and that this content could somehow prohibit others from competing in that market. But we'll appeal. We'll stay on it. The company remains very, very committed. Activision Blizzard King is not our strategy, but it is an accelerant for our strategy, so we're still heads-down and working through regulatory."

Microsoft has said that blocking the Activision deal is "bad for Britain".


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PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.