Activision CEO reveals that Microsoft's acquisition is "far from the final word"

In a recent turn of events, the UK's CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) has blocked the $69 billion Microsoft-Activision acquisition deal citing concerns about cloud gaming. Soon after the news, Activision Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick shared a few words with his team, stating that the news wasn't what the company wanted to hear and that it was "far from the final word" as he and Microsoft continue to contest this decision.

Activision Blizzard's acquisition by Microsoft has garnered a lot of controversy. The fact that this deal would lead to popular video game franchises, such as Call of Duty, going to Microsoft, has Sony worried since the two tech giants compete in the console gaming market. Previously, Sony has cited several reasons as to why the deal is anti-competitive and is against the interests of consumers.

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Activision and Microsoft are still challenging the rejection of their merger

Activision Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick recently shared an update on the CMA's disapproval of their merger with Microsoft. In the update, Kotick seemed determined to contest this decision from the UK's regulatory board. The CMA blocked this merger due to the future potential rise of Cloud gaming.

The board believes that Cloud gaming would be the next big thing in the gaming industry, and with this deal in place, Microsoft might reign supreme and establish its monopoly. Hence, they blocked the deal as it was anti-competitive in nature.

However, both tech giants are on the same page against this decision. Kotick had to say the following on this issue:

"Alongside Microsoft, we can and will contest this decision, and we’ve already begun the work to appeal to the UK Competition Appeals Tribunal. We’re confident in our case because the facts are on our side: this deal is good for competition."

He further added,

"By contrast, if the CMA’s decision holds, it would stifle investment, competition, and job creation throughout the UK gaming industry."

Kotick made numerous arguments in the update, claiming that this merger would be in no manner anti-competitive and would, in fact, result in more competition, job creation, and facilitate investment. He added that he will be doing everything in his capacity to advocate for this deal and ensure that the deal goes through at the end of the day.

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This is all there is to know about Kotick's update at the moment. As of this writing, the deal is still a no-go, and how this merger turns out, in the end, remains to be seen.