Microsoft says blocked Activision Blizzard deal is company’s “darkest day” in Britain

Microsoft president Brad Smith has described yesterday (April 26) as the company’s “darkest day in our four decades in Britain,” after its proposed £55billion purchase of Activision Blizzard was blocked in the UK.

Yesterday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was blocking Microsoft’s proposed acquisition, over concerns that ownership of Activision Blizzard‘s catalogue — which includes the likes of Call Of Duty, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft — would harm competition in the cloud gaming market.

Speaking on the BBC‘s Wake Up To Money podcast (via GamesIndustry.biz), Brad Smith accused the decision of being “bad for Britain,” and claimed it will “discourage innovation and investment in the UK”.

“Microsoft has been in the United Kingdom for 40 years and we play a vital role, not just supporting businesses and non-profits but even defending the nation from cyber-security threats,” said Smith. “But this decision, I have to say, is probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain. It does more than shake our confidence in the future of the opportunity to grow a technology business in Britain than we’ve ever confronted before.”

Smith went on to criticise the CMA for deciding to “torpedo” the deal over cloud gaming concerns, which he described as a “small” part of Microsoft’s business.

For its own part, the CMA has explained it prevented the deal because it sees the cloud gaming market as “fast-growing,” and believes Microsoft’s acquisition would “risk undermining the innovation that is crucial to the development of these opportunities” if it went through.

“Microsoft already enjoys a powerful position and head start over other competitors in cloud gaming and this deal would strengthen that advantage giving it the ability to undermine new and innovative competitors,” shared Martin Coleman, chairman of the independent panel of experts who investigated the acquisition.

Looking ahead, Microsoft has confirmed it will appeal the UK regulator’s decision.

In other gaming news, EA has shared that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will have “weeks” of patches after it launches, following reports of the game running poorly on PC.