The Competition and Markets Authority said it was worried the
The authority gave both companies five days to come up with proposals to address its concerns, otherwise it would escalate its investigation with more scrutiny.
The watchdog had opened an initial inquiry in July to assess whether the deal would result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in the
The all-cash deal is set to be the largest in the history of the tech industry. It would give Microsoft, maker of the Xbox console and gaming system, control of popular game franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and
“Following our Phase 1 investigation, we are concerned that Microsoft could use its control over popular games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft post-merger to harm rivals, including recent and future rivals in multi-game subscription services and cloud gaming," the watchdog's senior director of mergers, Sorcha O’Carroll, said in press statement.
Microsoft President
Competition regulators around the world are subjecting the transaction, which was announced in January, to a barrage of scrutiny. Until now, only
Competition watchdogs from
The stepped-up scrutiny comes amid a growing sense that past reviews of Big Tech mergers were too lax — such as when Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
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