• The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is looking to negotiate with Microsoft over its Activision Blizzard following a ruling made against the FTC in the US this week.
• The British regulator says it is in the early phase of negotiations and may require another investigation into the new deal.
• The CMA added that it will stick with its decision made during the first report on the deal.

This week Microsoft’s mission of acquiring Activision Blizzard was given new hope as the company received a favourable decision in hearings involving the FTC Stateside. Now Microsoft is turning its attention to the UK, where the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has blocked the deal, but has shown a willingness to negotiate with the tech giant.

To that end, following the aforementioned decision regarding the FTC, the CMA decided to place a pause on any legal proceedings with Microsoft in order to parlay.

This does not make the acquisition a forgone conclusion, however, as the CMA provided feedback on how it plans to negotiate. Here, CMA media officer Billy Proudlock, told The Verge in an official statement that the negotiations are very much in the early phase and could result in more scrutiny over the deal.

“Whilst merging parties don’t have the opportunity to put forward new remedies once a final report has been issued, they can choose to restructure a deal, which can lead to a new merger investigation. Microsoft and Activision have indicated that they are considering how the transaction might be modified, and the CMA is prepared to engage with them on this basis,” he explained.

“These discussions remain at an early stage and the nature and timing of next steps will be determined in due course. While both parties have requested a pause in Microsoft’s appeal to allow these discussions to take place, the CMA decision set out in its final report still stands,” Proudlock continued.

As such, the final report alluded to in the above statement was to block the deal. It will therefore be up to Microsoft to propose new terms, which will likely have to address concerns around cloud gaming.

While the cloud gaming landscape is still in its infancy, Microsoft would be better placed than others once it begins to make moves. Offering free trials to a service or opening up access to competitors may be required in order to appease the CMA.

Microsoft may have won in the US this week, but it still has a battle on its hands in the UK.