The headline’s “$5.9B King deal” is not the transaction Microsoft announced. On January 18, 2022, Microsoft proposed buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, including the company’s net cash, at $95 per share. King was part of Activision Blizzard, alongside Activision and Blizzard. Regulators later focused particularly on whether control of Activision games could affect competition in cloud game streaming. Their remedies differed by region, and the regulatory decisions alone do not establish what the deal ultimately changed for players.
What did Microsoft propose to buy?
Microsoft announced an all-cash acquisition of Activision Blizzard at $95 per share, valuing the transaction at $68.7 billion including Activision Blizzard’s net cash. The announcement was made by Microsoft on January 18, 2022; it was a proposed acquisition, not a standalone purchase of King.
The proposed portfolio included franchises from all three parts of Activision Blizzard:
- Activision: Call of Duty
- Blizzard: Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch
- King: Candy Crush
King’s inclusion mattered because the proposed acquisition covered a business with mobile, PC and console games. It did not mean Microsoft announced a separate $5.9 billion King transaction.
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Why did regulators focus on cloud gaming?
Cloud game streaming lets people play games delivered over the internet rather than running the game entirely on a local console or PC. Regulators considered whether Microsoft’s control of popular Activision games could disadvantage rival streaming services—for example, if the games were made exclusive to Microsoft’s Game Pass Ultimate and withheld from competing cloud providers.
In its May 15, 2023 decision, the European Commission said it found competition concerns around distributing PC and console games through cloud streaming and the possibility of strengthening Microsoft’s position in Windows. It did not identify comparable harm to rival consoles or multi-game subscription services in its investigation.
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The scale figure the Commission cited is historical: it estimated that cloud game streaming represented around 1% of total worldwide game distribution in 2022. The Commission described it as a limited but potentially important segment whose growth would depend in part on broader game catalogs and high-speed internet. That estimate is not a current market-share figure.
How did the European Union and UK remedies differ?
The European Commission conditionally approved the transaction on May 15, 2023, subject to Microsoft’s licensing commitments. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) first prohibited the original proposal on April 26, 2023, then consented to a revised structure on October 13, 2023. These were distinct remedies, with different rights, beneficiaries and mechanisms.
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| Comparison | European Commission | UK CMA revised deal |
|---|---|---|
| Jurisdiction and decision | European Economic Area (EEA); conditional approval on May 15, 2023. | United Kingdom; consent to acquire under a revised structure on October 13, 2023, after the CMA prohibited the original proposal in April 2023. |
| Rights and games covered | Licenses for streaming Activision games covered by the commitments. | Activision’s cloud-streaming rights outside the EEA for current and future PC and console games released during the next 15 years; Ubisoft also received a non-exclusive license for EEA cloud gaming rights. |
| Who benefits | EEA consumers who had licensed or subscribed to Activision games, and cloud providers serving EEA gamers. | Ubisoft received the specified non-EEA rights and the non-exclusive EEA license, enabling streaming and sublicensing under the revised arrangement. |
| Remedy mechanism | Microsoft was required to provide free licenses to eligible consumers and cloud providers. | The non-EEA cloud rights were excluded from Microsoft’s acquisition and assigned to Ubisoft immediately before completion; Ubisoft received a non-exclusive EEA license. |
| Duration or release window | The Commission described the licensing commitments as lasting 10 years. | The transfer concerns current and future Activision PC and console games released during the next 15 years; it is a release window, not the same kind of 10-year licensing term used in the EU remedy. |
| Stated competition issue | Possible harm to rival cloud-streaming services if Microsoft withheld Activision games from them. | The CMA’s original inquiry centered on cloud gaming. The CMA had provisionally concluded the proposal would not substantially lessen competition in UK console gaming. |
The remedies should not be collapsed into a single worldwide license. The Commission described 10-year licensing commitments in the EEA. The CMA’s revised structure instead excluded specified non-EEA cloud rights from the acquisition and assigned them to Ubisoft for the defined 15-year release window, alongside a non-exclusive EEA license.
What did Microsoft say it expected from the acquisition?
In its 2022 announcement, Microsoft said the acquisition would expand its gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud, and described ambitions involving Game Pass and mobile gaming. Those statements explain the company’s rationale at announcement time; they are forecasts and strategic claims, not independent findings or proof of realized effects.
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When the Commission conditionally approved the deal in 2023, its Executive Vice-President for competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, characterized the commitments as a way to bring Activision games to more devices and consumers through cloud streaming. That was the Commission’s account of its decision, not evidence by itself that competition, game availability or consumer outcomes subsequently improved.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can readers conclude about the gaming landscape?
The announced transaction combined major mobile, PC and console franchises under a proposed acquisition valued by Microsoft at $68.7 billion. The regulatory record shows why cloud streaming became a central issue and how the EU and UK addressed it through different arrangements. It does not, on its own, establish current availability of particular games on individual services, changes in prices, commercial performance, present market shares or realized effects on innovation and competition.
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