Microsoft is set to buy Activision Blizzard in a $69 billion deal

• Microsoft has cleared a key regulatory hurdle in the UK to acquire video game giant Activision Blizzard.
• The UK's competition watchdog approved Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of the company.

Microsoft has received final clearance from the UK's antitrust regulator for its $69 billion acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard.

The acquisition of Activision Blizzard — the creator of video games "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" — was initially blocked by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in April over concerns that this would allow Microsoft to dominate the nascent cloud gaming market.

It forced Microsoft to put forward remedies in August for its proposed deal to appease the regulator's concerns.

These remedies included a restructuring of the acquisition that would see Microsoft sell Activision's cloud gaming rights to "Assassin's Creed" developer Ubisoft.

This would see Microsoft forfeit the option to exlusively stream Activision Blizzard games over the Xbox Cloud Gaming service.

The CMA described Microsoft's concessions as a "gamechanger that will promote competition," making the decision on Friday to give full approval to the deal and all Microsoft to jump the final hurdle on its path to completing the blockbuster acquisition first announced in January 2022.

"We delivered a clear message to Microsoft that the deal would be blocked unless they comprehensively addressed our concerns and stuck to our guns on that," said Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA.

"With the sale of Activision's cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, we've made sure Microsoft can't have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market."

The company has until October 18 to close the deal.

In a statement, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson said: "The CMA's official approval is great news for our future with Microsoft, and we look forward to becoming part of the Xbox Team."

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.