New Zealand Regulator Raises Alarm Over Xbox's Acquisition of Activision Blizzard

The New Zealand Commerce Commission has requested an extension before making a decision on the Xbox's Activision Blizzard takeover, with the date now set as July 17th, 2023. The Commission's concerns are centred mainly around cloud gaming, with a statement suggesting the deal could "substantially lessen competition due to vertical effects in the distribution of video games for cloud gaming services". Microsoft agreed the extension time with the New Zealand Commerce Commission recently, which means the original decision date of June 9th has now been pushed forward by just over a month.