The UK watchdog initially blocked the acquisition over worries it would “alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market”, leading to reduced innovation and fewer choices for UK gamers.

In response, the company reworked the agreement, offering to sell Activision’s non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment as a way to assuage the regulator’s concerns. Microsoft said its new proposal was a “substantially different transaction” to the one proposed in 2022.

As a result of this concession, the CMA agreed to look afresh at the deal and launched a new investigation in August, which has now been concluded. It said the agreement will also help to ensure that cloud gaming providers will be able to use non-Windows operating systems for Activision content.

“The CMA is resolute in its determination to prevent mergers that harm competition and deliver bad outcomes for consumers and businesses. We take our decisions free from political influence...