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| U.K. Blocks Microsoft’s $69 Billion Bid for Activision, a Blow for Tech Deals | U.K. Blocks Microsoft’s $69 Billion Bid for Activision, a Blow for Tech Deals |
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| British antitrust regulators dealt a major setback on Wednesday to Microsoft’s plans to acquire the video game giant Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, blocking the proposed deal and handing a notable win to government enforcers around the world who want to rein in Big Tech. | British antitrust regulators dealt a major setback on Wednesday to Microsoft’s plans to acquire the video game giant Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, blocking the proposed deal and handing a notable win to government enforcers around the world who want to rein in Big Tech. |
| With its ruling, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority inflicted a possibly fatal blow to what would be the largest consumer tech acquisition since AOL bought Time Warner two decades ago. The agency said Microsoft’s proposals to ensure that the acquisition would not harm competition “failed to effectively address the concerns in the cloud gaming sector,” a nascent part of the gaming industry. | With its ruling, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority inflicted a possibly fatal blow to what would be the largest consumer tech acquisition since AOL bought Time Warner two decades ago. The agency said Microsoft’s proposals to ensure that the acquisition would not harm competition “failed to effectively address the concerns in the cloud gaming sector,” a nascent part of the gaming industry. |
| The surprising ruling bolstered an effort by the Federal Trade Commission to block the deal in the United States and was a clear victory for proponents of regulating tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, Facebook’s parent company. Their efforts, fueled by fears that the companies wield too much power over online commerce and communications, have been stymied by recent court losses and legislative failures. | The surprising ruling bolstered an effort by the Federal Trade Commission to block the deal in the United States and was a clear victory for proponents of regulating tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, Facebook’s parent company. Their efforts, fueled by fears that the companies wield too much power over online commerce and communications, have been stymied by recent court losses and legislative failures. |
| “This is a very big win for the broader effort to realign antitrust enforcement,” said William E. Kovacic, a former chairman of the F.T.C. Microsoft said it planned to appeal the ruling. | “This is a very big win for the broader effort to realign antitrust enforcement,” said William E. Kovacic, a former chairman of the F.T.C. Microsoft said it planned to appeal the ruling. |
| Much of the focus around whether the deal would harm consumers had focused on the market for expensive gaming consoles, but the Competition and Markets Authority zeroed in on cloud gaming, a relatively new technology that allows people to stream games to their devices, circumventing the need for hardware like gaming consoles. | |
| The ruling was an indication that regulators around the world are broadening their antitrust lens to include emerging markets and are intent on helping to shape them before a handful of giant companies can dominate them. A failure to gain approval in a large market like Britain or the United States could force Microsoft to walk away from the acquisition, even though another regulatory body in the European Union has not made a final decision. |