The fresh offer for the gaming behemoth, according to Microsoft’s UK boss, is “substantially different” and should be accepted.
Although the purchase will be reviewed, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated: “This is not a green light.”
The largest transaction of its sort in the history of the video game industry would see Microsoft acquire Activision.
However, it has divided regulators throughout the globe, some of whom worry that it may limit the options available to gamers.
Microsoft’s amended offer will be decided on by the CMA by October 18; without its approval, the deal cannot proceed internationally.
According to the amended agreement, video game developer Ubisoft would receive the rights to stream Activision titles from the cloud for 15 years from Microsoft, which makes the Xbox platform.
According to Mr. Smith, “Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service – Xbox Cloud Gaming – or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services.”
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If authorized, the merger would bring an end to 18 months of turmoil for Microsoft, which thinks it will increase demand for the Xbox.
So far, it said that 40 nations, including China and the European Union, have accepted its initial offer for Activision.
The US Federal Trade Commission is still attempting to obstruct the deal in the US, but the courts have repeatedly rejected its arguments.
The CMA, however, halted the merger in April after warning that it would limit consumer choice and innovation in the quickly expanding cloud gaming industry.
Mr. Smith was incensed by the decision, which made it impossible for the agreement to proceed elsewhere. He claimed it was “bad for Britain” and that it was the “darkest day” in Microsoft’s forty years of operations in the nation.
It was also a setback for the UK government, which wants to see the nation emerge as a global leader in technology.
According to the updated agreement, Ubisoft would give Activision’s content “to all cloud gaming service providers, including Microsoft itself,” according to Microsoft.
Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision, said the agreement had taken “a longer journey than expected” but that “nothing substantially changes” with the current offer.
In order to expand the selection of games available through Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft wants to acquire Activision. Members of this subscription service must pay a charge in order to access a library of online games.
Rivals like Sony, which are worried that Microsoft would prevent key titles from being made available to its own PlayStation division, have protested to the pact.
More than half of all copies sold in the UK for PlayStation were in Modern Warfare 2, the most recent entry in the Call of Duty series, which made $1 billion over its opening weekend.
Regulators in the UK, the US, and the EU must approve the Microsoft-Activision merger for it to go through.
The CMA would also benefit from the new opportunity to approve a deal if the new bid were approved.
It has drawn criticism for being the only significant regulatory authority in the world to oppose the merger.
Microsoft’s current offer, according to CMA CEO Sarah Cardell, is “substantially different from what was put on the table previously.”
“We will carefully and objectively assess the details of the restructured deal and its impact on competition, including in light of third-party comments,” the spokeswoman added.
“Our goal has not changed; any decision on this new agreement in the future will ensure that the expanding cloud gaming market continues to gain from open and effective competition that fosters innovation and choice.”
