Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Deal in Jeopardy Amid CMA Warning and UK Opposition

The UK's Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) has concluded that Microsoft would lose "substantial" money if it ever tried to make Call of Duty exclusive to its platforms. The CMA's analysis takes into account the potential reputational hit to Microsoft, the benefits to Microsoft's Game Pass subscription, and more. The regulator ultimately decided to block the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft on the mostly unrelated matter of cloud gaming, where they fear Microsoft's cloud infrastructure and subscription service could result in a monopoly that Sony and Nintendo would be unable to compete with.