Microsoft gets a two-month pause over UK appeal of Activision Blizzard merger

(Image: Reuters)

A London court has granted a two-month extension to Microsoft, Activision Blizzard and UK's Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) over the proposed Microsoft Activision Blizzard merger.

The pause was granted after CMA agreed to look into a modified deal that was put forward by Microsoft. The hearing which was scheduled for July 28 will be adjourned.

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The judge presiding over the case, Marcus Smith, granted the extension on the condition that CMA gives reasoning as to why it has agreed to reconsider the deal after it initially blocked the merger on grounds of competition within the cloud gaming space.

In April, the CMA blocked the deal saying it would harm competition in cloud gaming and that its concerns could not be solved by remedies such as allowing rivals to offer games on Microsoft's platforms.

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Last week, news broke that Microsoft and Activision Blizzard were considering giving up some control of their cloud gaming business in the UK via a sale of their market rights to a telecommunications, gaming or internet company.

In the US, Microsoft has managed to score a major victory when an US appeals court rejected the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plea to pause the merger.