The CMA say the move would "damage competition" in the cloud gaming market.
Microsoft’s $68.7 billion purchase of Activision has been blocked by the United Kingdom’s Competition & Markets Authority over concerns that it would “damage competition in the cloud gaming market.”
In a statement on April 26, the CMA stated that Microsoft’s proposal failed to effectively address concerns they had surrounding the cloud gaming sector and that a solution put forward by the tech giant had failed to address “significant shortcomings” the government body had raised.
The CMA states that purchasing Activision would further expand Microsoft’s “strong position” in cloud gaming, which reportedly sees them account for 60-70% of cloud gaming services around the world.
With control over massive franchises like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch, the CMA believes Microsoft would find making these titles exclusive to Microsoft-owned platforms a huge benefit commercially and could stifle cloud gaming innovation in the future.
This article is being updated as more information becomes available.