Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of gaming firm Activision Blizzard could result in higher prices, fewer choices and less innovation for the British video game market, the UK's regulator has said.
The CMA has published the conclusions of its investigation into the $68.7bn (£56.7bn) merger, which would see Xbox-maker Microsoft acquire hit titles such as Call of Duty and Candy Crush. The deal has been hailed as the "biggest takeover in tech history".
The investigation has included holding site visits and hearings to hear directly from business leaders at Microsoft and Activision, analysing over three million internal documents from the two businesses, commissioning an independent survey of UK gamers, and gathering evidence from a range of other gaming console providers, game publishers, and cloud gaming service providers, the regulator has said.
“Our job is to make sure that UK gamers are not caught in the crossfire of global deals that...