For those who keep up to date on gaming news, they will be well aware of the controversy surrounding Microsoft’s takeover bid for Activision Blizzard. The deal rumoured to be worth more than 70 billion has been pending since the beginning of 2022, and has hit a number of roadblocks. Most notably the merger is going to be subject to approval from a number of regulatory boards, which include the UK.
A number of other tech giants, like Sony are worried that the acquisition of such a huge developer like Activision Blizzard will result in a monopoly, and thus be unfair for competition, as it could mean that the franchise will become a Microsoft exclusive, although Microsoft have promised to keep Call Of Duty available on all platforms for years to come.
The UK government announced earlier in the year that they will be blocking the buyout, over fears it could result in reduced innovation in other areas of gaming, thus harming UK consumers. Microsoft have appealed the decision and are due to meet discuss the issues with the government, but should they fail to come to a resolution Microsoft could decide to pull the entire Activision Blizzard catalogue from the UK market. This is of course an extreme solution, but it certainly remains a possibility.