EU antitrust regulators are seeking input from Microsoft's competitors and customers to assess whether they have been affected by UK remedies in Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, people familiar with the matter said today. Last month, Microsoft presented a new acquisition plan to British regulators for its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Under the new proposal, Microsoft would transfer cloud gaming rights to current and future new Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft.
The move is intended to appease British regulators concerned about the impact Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard will have on cloud gaming competition.
In April this year, British regulators rejected the deal. But in July, it changed its tune and said that if Microsoft could submit a new plan, it would re-evaluate the deal.
Last month, after Microsoft submitted a new plan to the UK and agreed to transfer Activision Blizzard's cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft, the European Commission stated that it would review whether this proposal would affect Microsoft's previous concessions to the EU.
In May, the EU approved the deal after Microsoft agreed to license popular games such as "Call of Duty" to rival game streaming platforms. However, Microsoft's compromise with the EU does not include a deal with Ubisoft.
In January last year, Microsoft announced that it would acquire Activision Blizzard for approximately US$69 billion. After the transaction is completed, Microsoft will become the third-largest gaming company in the world by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. Subsequently, multiple regulatory agencies around the world launched investigations into the transaction.