Microsoft has put forth a new offer to acquire Activision Blizzard after their original proposal worth $69bn (£59bn) was not approved by the United Kingdom's competition authority.
The CMA declared on Tuesday that Microsoft's proposed acquisition of the developer of Call of Duty had been rejected.
The review of the new deal will now take place, however it was made clear that "this does not constitute approval".
Microsoft will not be acquiring the rights to any of Activision's existing or upcoming video games hosted in the cloud under the new agreement.
For a period of 15 years, Activision's PC and console games in the European Economic Area will not be included in the pledge.
Games saved on the cloud provide gamers with the opportunity to purchase content when they want, comparable to streaming services like Netflix.
Microsoft's agreement to purchase the creator of Call of Duty, which was made last year, was predicted to be the largest of its type in the gaming sector's history.
Regulators around the globe are divided on the issue of it, with some worrying it might be conducive to unfair competition.
The US Federal Trade Commission persists in their efforts to prevent the deal in America, although they have been overruled on multiple occasions by the courts.
The European Union and China have declared that the union can proceed.
In April, the UK declared intentions to impede the agreement, cautioning that it would impact creativity and array of options for consumers in the developing cloud gaming market.
Activision expressed its ire at the decision, and Brad Smith, Microsoft's UK president, said this signified Microsoft's "darkest day" in four decades of operations in the nation, and he deemed it to be "bad for Britain".
The UK's decision has resulted in the international text of the multi-billion dollar agreement being rendered unenforceable.
Microsoft announced that instead of having a monopoly on Activision's games, such as Candy Crush, they would be offering them to rival video game distributor Ubisoft.
Ubisoft will be able to provide Activision's material to all cloud gaming companies, with Microsoft included.
Microsoft manufactures the Xbox gaming console, intending to grow its library of titles for its Game Pass streaming service by acquiring Activision. This would permit gamers to obtain content for their consoles and smartphones.
Other competitors such as Sony have voiced their concern that Microsoft may prevent popular titles from being playable on the PlayStation platform due to the proposed agreement.
Modern Warfare 2, the most recent instalment of the Call of Duty franchise, earned $1bn during its opening weekend, with over half of the units sold in the UK being for the PlayStation platform.
Sarah Cardell, the chief executive of the CMA, declared the Microsoft's freshly-revised agreement to be "markedly distinct from what was proposed earlier".
She stated that the CMA would now look into the offer.
She stated that they will conduct a thorough and unbiased evaluation of the modified agreement and its consequences on competition, taking into consideration the reactions of external parties.
The purpose of this new deal remains the same - whatever final decision is reached, the developing cloud gaming industry will continue to gain from open market rivalry, thereby stimulating creativity and diversity.
Comments