While Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard has already been approved in Brazil, the same can’t be said in the UK. Just last week, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has referred that a Phase Two inquiry needs to be made amid monopoly concerns — something Microsoft vehemently denies.

Well, it seems the full response (about four pages long) by Microsoft has now made its way online! While we got excerpts of the reply last week, you can now read the entire thing from start to finish! Read the entire thing in the gallery below, and we’ve included some of important bits in text version too.

These unsupported theories of harm are not sufficient to justify a reference to Phase 2. Microsoft
is confident that following an in-depth review, the CMA will conclude that there is no prospect
that the Transaction will give rise to a substantial lessening of competition in any market based on
Phase 2’s higher “balance of probabilities” threshold.

The CMA’s concerns are misplaced for the following reasons:

• Sony PlayStation has been the largest console platform for over 20 years, with an installed base of over 150 million consoles making it larger than Nintendo and more than double the size of Xbox.
• Sony engages in conduct today which is reflective of its market power in console gaming, including increasing prices of its consoles without fear of losing market share.
• The suggestion that the incumbent market leader, with clear and enduring market power, could be foreclosed by the third largest provider as a result of losing access to one title is not credible. There are more than 4,000 games available on PlayStation alone.
• The evidence shows that the number of PlayStation’s monthly active users (“MAUs”) playing Call of Duty is not sufficiently material. Even without all of those gamers (a highly improbable outcome from a hypothetical foreclosure strategy), the PlayStation gamer base would remain significantly larger than Xbox is today.
• Since the Transaction was announced, Sony has acquired several game studios—including Bungie, developer of the popular online game Destiny 2, Haven Studios, Lasengle and Savage Games—and a minority interest in From Software, the developer of the biggest game of 2022, Elden Ring (among other hit games). This complements Sony’s existing minority shareholding in Epic Games, publisher of Fortnite, strong first-party game catalogue and extensive portfolio of exclusive arrangements with third-party publishers. There were over 280 exclusive firstand third-party titles on PlayStation in 2021, nearly five times as many as on Xbox

It seems Microsoft is hoping that Phase Two can be avoided, though that seems to be what’s going to happen. It’s been one rollercoaster ride, and all this because of one franchise! Though one can argue that it’s the most important franchise in all of gaming (in terms of revenue and whatnot).

Stay tuned to this ever-developing drama that seems to be far from being over.

Thanks, Tom Warren!