Microsoft: Revised offer to buy Call of Duty creators Activision Blizzard set to be approved

The UK’s competition watchdog has said that Microsoft’s new and revised offer to buy Activision Blizzard, the makers of popular video games Call of Duty "opens the door" to the deal being cleared.

The Competition Markets Authority (CMA) said the updated deal appeared to address concerns it had raised. Under the new deal, Microsoft will not buy the cloud gaming rights that are currently owned by Activision Blizzard.

The original deal, which was believed to be in the region of $69bn (£59bn) was blocked by UK regulators. The CMA prevented Microsoft from taking on the whole of Activision, but circumstances may have changed.

The deal was stopped over concerns that the deal would harm competition in cloud gaming in the UK. Due to this, a new deal was submitted for the competition watchdog to look at by Microsoft last month.

Under the revised offer, Microsoft agreed to transfer the rights to stream Activision games from the cloud to the French video games publisher Ubisoft for 15 years. This means the cloud streaming of games including Call of Duty will not come under Microsoft’s control.

In a statement on Friday, the CMA’s chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said: "The CMA’s position has been consistent throughout - this merger could only go ahead if competition, innovation, and choice in cloud gaming was preserved."

The latest developments in this mega deal will no doubt be a huge relief for those bosses at the top of Microsoft and Activision. They have worked tirelessly to get this deal done, even risked reputations along the way.