As they say, no matter how good or bad things go, there is always a “captain after the fact,” who passes judgment after everything has happened, as if anything else could have been done in the process. And we are talking precisely about the CMA and the trial of the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, a fact that occupied much of the information in 2023, with repercussions that reached every corner of the industry. Therefore, these words from Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, may seem too correct.
Among other things, because the CMA denied the purchase in its first resolution, provoking a torrent of statements against the organization and even against the United Kingdom itself for refusing to authorize the purchase. One of those that hurt the British leaders the most was that “the establishment was closed for business”, which struck deeply, with the statements of the Prime Minister himself, who had control sessions with the CMA itself shortly after. Ultimately, the CMA gave its agreement, but not before forcing Microsoft to sell its share of cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft, which it surely would not like.
Microsoft learned a lot from this transaction
As we can read in The edgewho transcribed Brad Smith’s statements for the BBC on today’s show, was much more gracious in his remarks than he was at the time, saying that “he personally learned a lot ” and that “he could have chosen slightly different words to refer to this era.” .”
The CMA has held itself to high standards and I respect that. In my opinion, she was tough and fair. It caused Microsoft to modify the acquisition we had proposed for Activision Blizzard and remove certain rights that the CMA was concerned about regarding cloud gaming.
We all already remember how difficult these days were in terms of news, good and bad and above all, how ultimately, it was precisely the CMA that had the last word on which the purchase was concluded in less than 24 hours, in October. 13, 2023.
