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Microsoft’s bid for Activision gets UK approval, removing last hurdle to the deal_我的网站
一 | LONDON -- Microsoft’s purchase of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard won final approval Friday from Britain’s competition watchdog, reversing its earlier decision to block the $69 billion gaming deal and removing the final obstacle for one of the largest tech transactions in history.The Xbox maker’s quest to acquire Activision — maker of other blockbuster games like Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch — could close imminently ahead of a Wednesday deadline. That would wrap up a merger delayed for close to two years by intense scrutiny from authorities around the world.The blessing from the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority was expected after it gave preliminary approval last month to a revamped Microsoft proposal meant to address concerns that the deal would harm competition and hurt gamers, especially in the emerging cloud gaming market where players can avoid buying pricey consoles and stream games to their tablets or phones. “The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers,” the watchdog said. Microsoft was grateful for the “thorough review and decision” on a tie-up that “will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide,” President Brad Smith said.Activision CEO Bobby Kotick says the game maker looks "forward to becoming part of the Xbox Team.”The deal will benefit gamers and be “productive for the gaming industry as a whole," said Josh Chapman, managing partner at venture capital firm Konvoy, which invests in video game startups.However, it also tilts the “balance of power significantly" in favor of Microsoft, whose Xbox console has lagged behind Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo, said George Jijiashvili, senior principal analyst at tech research and advisory firm Omdia. Microsoft “now has a big opportunity to dictate the future of the games industry,” he said. Since the deal was announced in January 2022, Microsoft has secured approvals from antitrust authorities covering more than 40 countries. Crucially, it got a thumbs-up from the 27-nation European Union after agreeing to allow users and cloud gaming platforms to stream its titles without paying royalties for 10 years.But the deal faced resistance from British and American regulators who worried it would stifle competition in the video game industry. Top rival Sony also feared it would limit PlayStation gamers’ access to Call of Duty, Activision’s long-running military shooter series. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission lost a court bid to pause the deal so that its in-house judge could review it. The FTC hasn't given up, appealing the decision and last month filing notice of its plan to resume that trial. That signals the U.S. regulator's intention to unwind the deal even after it closes. In the meantime, the U.K. regulator was the last major hurdle to the transaction going through. To gets its approval, Microsoft will sell off cloud streaming rights outside the EU and three other European countries for all current and new Activision games released over the next 15 years to French game studio Ubisoft Entertainment. British regulators had initially blocked the transaction over concerns Microsoft could withhold Activision titles from the cloud gaming market. Then, in an unprecedented move, the U.K. watchdog said it needed to reconsider.One factor was the EU’s approval, granted after Microsoft promised to automatically license Activision titles royalty-free to cloud gaming platforms. Another “material change of circumstance,” according to court documents, was an agreement Microsoft signed with Sony to make Call of Duty available on PlayStation for at least 10 years.But the regulator still criticized how the deal came together and warned other companies not to use the “tactics employed by Microsoft.”“Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn’t work,” the watchdog's CEO, Sarah Cardell, said in a statement. "Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money.”The U.K. regulator “deserves credit for imposing a structural remedy on Microsoft that is significantly stronger than the weak commitments accepted by the European Commission," said Max von Thun, director of the Europe office of the Open Markets Institute, a proponent of stronger antitrust enforcement. But the CMA's flip-flopping makes the U.K. regulator look “weak and indecisive,” he said.“Moving forward, there is now a serious risk that in their dealings with the CMA, merging companies and their advisors will no longer take no for an answer,” von Thun said. ___AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien contributed from Providence, Rhode Island.。 每周食谱 营养美味，安全可靠 2024.12.16-12.20 人间烟火气 四季皆安然 健康是本 膳食是根 民航幼儿园的厨房每日为孩子们奉上 精心搭配的应季美食, 两餐一点是我们最用心的陪伴, 最温暖的守护 星期一食谱 营养早餐 青菜瘦肉红萝卜鸡蛋汤米粉、牛肉丸 水果 砂糖橘 美味午餐 大米饭、卤水鸡翅根、西红柿炒豆腐、红萝卜玉米马蹄脊骨汤 健康茶点 学生奶、芝麻卷、山楂条 星期二食谱 营养早餐 牛奶芝麻糊、香菇椰菜肉包 水果 无核红提 美味午餐 大米饭、牛肉马蹄上肉饼、青瓜炒鸡蛋、三豆脊骨汤 健康茶点 菜心瘦肉粥、芒芒腰果奶糕 星期三食谱 营养早餐 小米淮山瘦肉粥、油麦菜胡萝卜猪肉炒面 水果 秋月梨 美味午餐 玉米饭、台湾卤肉、红烧南瓜、白萝卜香菜鲫鱼汤 健康茶点 学生奶、红糖刀切馒头、混合坚果 星期四食谱 营养早餐 燕麦牛奶羹、肠仔包 水果 苹果 美味午餐 西葫芦瘦肉云吞面、春菜瑶柱鸡蛋瘦肉汤 健康茶点 小米南瓜瘦肉粥、山楂棒 星期五食谱 营养早餐 腐皮白果瑶柱瘦肉粥、豆角红萝卜猪肉炒米粉 水果 火龙果 美味午餐 龙利鱼五彩好味饭、雪梨银耳无花果瘦肉汤 健康茶点 学生奶、葡萄干蛋糕、混合坚果 文字 / 民航幼儿园保健 图片 / 周文娟 编辑 / 阮丽舒 排版 / 陈欢萍 审核 / 刘心慧。
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