The proposed $69 billion acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard by Microsoft was approved by European Union regulators subject to Microsoft’s requested revisions.
Regulators and some of Microsoft’s competitors, including Sony, the maker of the PlayStation game console, have opposed the purchase.
The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, said that Microsoft provided solutions in the developing field of cloud gaming that addressed antitrust worries.
These solutions primarily focused on letting customers watch their Activision purchases from any cloud streaming service they preferred.
Examining whether Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision would stifle competition in the gaming markets, regulators from around the world have been looking into this issue.
Initial worries that the merger might lower competition in the developing cloud gaming market led the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority to prohibit it last month, and now the EU has made a similar conclusion.
Regulators questioned Microsoft about whether it may acquire Activision to retain them only on Microsoft’s platform.
The Call of Duty series and World of Warcraft are two of the most popular console and PC games ever created, both of which were developed by Activision.
Microsoft would benefit financially, according to the CMA, if it made popular Activision games like Call of Duty exclusive to its own cloud gaming services.
The acquisition would not, however, lessen competitiveness in the gaming industry, according to the CMA.
Prior to the EU ruling, Microsoft tried to ease the commission’s worries about making Activision games exclusive.
The European approval is a major victory for Microsoft after the sale was initially rejected by the U.K.’s top regulatory.
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