Microsoft bid for Activision Blizzard blocked by UK competition regulator

The UK's competition regulator has blocked Microsoft's attempted takeover of Activision Blizzard, the developer behind hit video games such as Call of Duty, in what would have been the largest acquisition in gaming history. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) prevented the $68.7bn (£55bn) cash purchase because of concerns it would squash the cloud gaming market. The tie-up would have created a gaming behemoth, merging Activision's plethora of "AAA" titles, which also include World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Candy Crush Saga and Overwatch, with Microsoft's burgeoning stable of first-party developers, its Xbox consoles and its control of PC gaming. The block follows the CMA's decision in October last year to prevent Meta acquiring the animated gif search engine Giphy. Anne Witt, a law professor and member of the EDHEC Augmented Law Institute, described the Activision decision as "huge news".