The CMA fears that the agreement will greatly affect the future of the cloud gaming market, leading to less innovation and less choice for the people of Britain. According to the CMA, there are significant shortcomings in Microsoft’s proposal to address these problems, and the regulator would have to constantly monitor the development of this situation.
The cloud market is growing rapidly – it is expected that by 2026 its value will be about 11 billion pounds worldwide (and 1 billion in Britain). CMA believes that Microsoft can benefit greatly from the exclusive hosting of Activision games in its cloud services – this is precisely what will reduce the choice in the market.
Microsoft already accounts for 60-70% of cloud services, and the company also has other advantages in this area. And Microsoft’s potential influence on the sector will only increase, because it will control large franchises like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
According to CMA, if the deal does not go through, then Activision itself will release its projects in the cloud, which apparently implies more room for choice among players in Britain (in this case, they do not need to own the Microsoft platform).
Microsoft’s proposal to solve all these problems (to establish certain release conditions for the next ten years) allegedly did not take into account different “cloud” business models, including services with subscriptions. The solution involved the introduction of certain rules regarding the principle of accessibility of games, which limited the “dynamic” and “creative” elements of competition in the market.
In addition, CMA fears conflicts between Microsoft and cloud services over Activision games. The deal will also ostensibly cause general harm to UK gamers, especially given Microsoft’s possible intention to raise the price. Game Passto justify inclusion in Activision’s catalog of games.
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