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Microsoft reportedly prepared to sell off UK cloud games biz to appease regulators

Microsoft reportedly prepared to sell off UK cloud games biz to appease regulators

Microsoft might sell some of its cloud games business in the UK in order to have regulators approve its purchase of Activision Blizzard.

That's according to Bloomberg, which reports that the Xbox giant might be prepared to give up some control of its cloud games arm in order to appease the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

This follows Microsoft president Brad Smith saying earlier this week that the company was prepared to look into changing the deal to bring the CMA on board. The acquisition has been given the nod in the United States after the FTC failed to make the case for why it should be blocked.

"While we ultimately disagree with the CMA’s concerns, we are considering how the transaction might be modified in order to address those concerns in a way that is acceptable to the CMA," Smith said.

"In order to prioritise work on these proposals, Microsoft and Activision have agreed with the CMA that a stay of the litigation in the UK would be in the public interest and the parties have made a joint submission to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to this effect."

As reported by GI.biz, the CMA today said that it was no longer providing a final ruling for the deal on July 18th, as expected, but instead will be doing so by August 29th. This is due to Microsoft filing a 'detailed and complex' proposal when it comes to the acquisition.


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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.