Microsoft also said any breach of its commitments would mean European approval would no longer be valid and put it at risk of fines of up to 10% of its worldwide turnover, which would amount to $19.8bn if based on its 2022 turnover. In arguments published on Monday, Microsoft said it had already improved competition in the cloud gaming market by striking agreements with the cloud gaming services NVidia, Boosteroid and Ubitus, allowing them to license Activision games for a decade after the deal is completed.

The CMA’s core objection to the Xbox owner’s takeover of a leading video game publisher has been that it would affect competition in the market for cloud gaming, which allows users to stream games stored on remote servers on to their devices. We will consider Microsoft’s submissions carefully, along with other responses from interested parties, ahead of the 29 August statutory deadline.”

“Submissions of this nature are possible but are very rare. The CMA decided to hold a consultation on Microsoft’s new argument after guidance from the Competition Appeal Tribunal, an official body that hears appeals on the watchdog’s decisions.Ī CMA spokesperson said: “Microsoft has submitted a document detailing why it believes there are material changes of circumstance and/or special reasons why the CMA should not impose a final order to prohibit the merger. Microsoft said in its submission it was in the “advanced stages of putting forward a proposal to modify” the deal. However, Haffner said he expected the CMA and Microsoft to agree new remedies in order to get the deal over the line. “I’m not sure these were the sort of material circumstances originally envisaged when the act was put together, but there is nonetheless a live issue as to whether they are ‘material’ enough to justify a complete about turn by the CMA,” said Alex Haffner, a partner at the UK law firm Fladgate. The Enterprise Act contains a provision that allows the CMA to alter its final order – which in this case was heading towards a block – if there has been a “material change in circumstances” since it reached its published decision. “Microsoft considers that it is clear that there are material changes in circumstance and special reasons under which mean that the CMA should not adopt the draft order prohibiting the merger,” said Microsoft in its submission.

Microsoft store games microsoft jigsaw