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The
country's antitrust regulator said on Wednesday that Microsoft's
commitment to offer access to Activision's multi-billion dollar
"Call of Duty" franchise to leading cloud gaming platforms would
not effectively remedy its concerns.
Microsoft said in a statement it remained fully committed to the
acquisition and would appeal the decision, while Activision said
it would "work aggressively" with Microsoft to reverse it.
"We will reassess our growth plans for the UK," Activision said.
"Global innovators large and small will take note that - despite
all its rhetoric - the UK is clearly closed for business."
Activision's shares were down more than 10% in U.S. pre-market
trade.
The surprise ruling comes after the Competition and Markets
Authority (CMA) last month dropped its concerns about the impact
of the deal on the console market led by Sony's market-leading
PlayStation.
That left cloud streaming services as the remaining hurdle,
which Microsoft sought to overcome by signing licensing deals
with the owners of streaming platforms including Valve Corp,
Nvidia and Boosteroid.
Microsoft had already offered Sony - a vocal opponent of the
deal - a 10-year "Call of Duty" licence, in line with an
agreement to bring the multi-billion dollar franchise to
Nintendo's Switch.
Europe will decide on the deal by May 22. The United State's
Federal Trade Commission is also seeking to block it.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton, Kirsten
Donovan)
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