Microsoft hasn't faced a great deal of pushback in regard to its massive $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In fact, the only two trade regulators that have made any attempt to put the brakes on the deal is the United States' FTC (which seriously botched its blocking case) and the UK's CMA, with this being the only trade regulator to actually put a block on the deal, because of concerns regarding cloud gaming monopolisation.
Naturally, Microsoft was upset about this decision and started exploring ways it could go ahead with the purchase without the UK's consent, and ultimately decided the best method was to work with the CMA on a solution. This has now been completed.
Because the CMA has announced that since Microsoft has dropped the plans to acquire Activision's cloud gaming rights, with Ubisoft now taking over these rights for the next 15 years, it is now happy for the mega merger to go ahead.
The CMA states: "The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers. It will allow Ubisoft to offer Activision's content under any business model, including through multigame subscription services. It will also help to ensure that cloud gaming providers will be able to use non-Windows operating systems for Activision content, reducing costs and increasing efficiency."
This will mean that Activision Blizzard King and all of its developers and IP will soon be part of the Xbox Game Studios family, and no doubt will also mean that various games from the giant publisher will start popping up on Game Pass in the future.
As for whether the CMA had any additional concerns with the deal, it has stated: "The CMA did identify limited residual concerns with the new deal, but Microsoft gave undertakings that will ensure that the terms of the sale of Activision's rights to Ubisoft are enforceable by the CMA.
"The CMA consulted on these undertakings and is satisfied that this will provide the safety net needed to make sure this deal is properly implemented."
We're now awaiting the final confirmation of the deal's closure, which could come as soon as today.