Britain's antitrust regulator has approved Microsoft's acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard, marking a big step forward in the deal's reorganisation for acquistion. Activision agreed to sell its streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment in August. Furthermore, in September, Microsoft offered measures to ensure that the terms of the sale were enforceable. After the deadline was extended by three months in July to get UK clearance, this prepared the path for the deal to be completed by October 18.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) praised Microsoft's streaming concession, calling it a "game changer" and noting that it was the first competition agency in the world to accomplish this. The new agreement will protect competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers and prevent Microsoft from monopolising the market.

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When the CMA rejected the $69 billion acquisition in April over fears that the computer giant would have too much control of the nascent cloud gaming business, Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition, announced in early 2022, ran into difficulties.

Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, stressed the regulator's impartiality and dedication to resolving issues, regardless of business pressure. She pointed out that Microsoft had the chance to restructure the agreement during the preliminary examination but insisted on taking actions that the CMA found to be insufficient.

Microsoft is on track to close the deal before the deadline and presently has all required regulatory clearances. With this, the 20-month process of regulatory clearances and contract changes comes to a close. Furthermore, the corporation has made numerous arrangements in order to complete the Activision Blizzard deal. It has also altered the agreement so that the business will no longer manage Activision Blizzard's cloud gaming rights outside of EU markets, and Ubisoft will obtain the rights for 15 years.

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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick announced the news in an email to all employees today. "We now have all regulatory approvals necessary to close and we look forward to bringing joy and connection to even more players around the world. We're excited for our next chapter together with Microsoft and the endless possibilities it creates for you and for our players," as quoted by The Verge.