World News | UK regulator softens stance on Microsoft Activision deal

LONDON, March 24 (AP) — British antitrust regulators reviewed Microsoft’s blockbuster acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard on Friday, dropping concerns that the deal would hurt the console games market, narrowing their scope of investigation.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it no longer believed the $69 billion deal would result in a “substantial reduction in competition” in UK console games, an update to an interim finding released last month based on new evidence.

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The all-cash deal would be the largest in tech industry history.

But it faces backlash from rival Sony and is being scrutinized by regulators in the U.S. and Europe over concerns it could give Microsoft control of popular gaming franchises such as Call of Duty.

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The acquisition hit a snag last month after U.K. regulators said in their preliminary decision that the deal would stifle competition between cloud and console gaming.

Based on new evidence, including data that could better understand the buying behavior of video game players, the regulator said there would be “no commercial benefit” from Microsoft dedicating Call of Duty to its Xbox console.

That’s the opposite of its original analysis, which suggested that blocking games from competing consoles like Sony’s PlayStation would be profitable.

“The cost to Microsoft of withholding Call of Duty from PlayStation will outweigh any gains from such action,” Martin Coleman, chair of the CMA’s independent panel investigating the deal, said in a release.

The regulator is still investigating the deal’s impact on the cloud computing market and plans to issue a final report by April 26.

Microsoft said it welcomed the findings and would work with regulators “to resolve any outstanding issues.” (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)