Microsoft cleared to buy Activision for $69B

Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to buy video game developer Activision Blizzard cleared its final hurdle Friday after receiving approval from British regulators.

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) cleared a restructured version of the massive tech deal nearly 22 months after it was announced. 

“We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick similarly touted the deal’s final approval Friday in an email to employees, saying he is “excited for our next chapter together with Microsoft and the endless possibilities it creates for you and for our players.”

The deal appeared to be nearing the finish line last month when the British regulator gave its preliminary approval of the new proposal, saying it “substantially addresses previous concerns” about stifling competition in the cloud gaming market.

Microsoft restructured the deal in August to give the cloud streaming rights to Activision’s games to video game developer Ubisoft, in exchange for a “one-off payment” and “market-based whole pricing mechanism.”

“We delivered a clear message to Microsoft that the deal would be blocked unless they comprehensively addressed our concerns and stuck to our guns on that,” Sarah Cardell, CMA’s chief executive, said in a statement Friday.

“With the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, we’ve made sure Microsoft can’t have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market,” Cardell continued, adding, “We are the only competition agency globally to have delivered this outcome.”

The $69 billion acquisition of Activision also faced resistance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which lost its legal bid to temporarily halt the deal. However, the FTC has indicated that it still plans to move forward with its case against the merger, even as the deal closes.