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The franchise may be removed from the UK. (Image via Activision)

UK region might not receive a new Call of Duty game due to the Microsoft and Activision deal

Microsoft has been adamant about purchasing Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard since last year. The $6.9 billion deal has progressed in the last few months, but there's one last hurdle. The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has rejected Microsoft's appeal for the acquisition.

Activision got the green light from 39 countries belonging to the European Community, but the UK CMA argued that the merger would give Microsoft a monopolistic hand over the cloud gaming industry. So, they rejected the appeal, and the industry giants are now considering drastic steps to complete the acquisition.

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As per a Bloomberg report, Microsoft's President Brad Smith will have a meeting with the UK Chancellor and CMA next week in an attempt to smooth things over. Since Activision is a global company, all the countries where it operates have to agree to the new terms for the deal to go through. The UK is currently the only obstacle.

Reportedly, if the UK CMA does not budge, Microsoft will go through with the deal anyway and pull out of the regional market. The acquisition would still be legal, but all Activision Blizzard games could potentially be removed from the UK. According to the report, Microsoft had this to say:

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"One extreme option could be to bypass the UK order and press ahead with the deal, or withdraw Activision from the UK market."

The publisher's games — Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush Saga, and more — would be removed from England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in case of the latter. It is currently unclear whether they would disable the servers for players in the UK or just block new sales.

BREAKING: Call of Duty & Activision games may be removed in UK

Microsoft’s Xbox President is meeting with the UK CMA next week. Bloomberg is reporting that they're exploring options to ignore UK’s block &close the deal even if this means removing Activision from the UK.

The fate of Call of Duty and other Activision games in the UK depends on the meeting next week between Brad Smith and the UK Chancellor. Hopefully, they will come to a mutual agreement that allows the publisher to continue operating in the United Kingdom.

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Edited by
Mohini Banerjee
 
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