Shares of Activision Blizzard, the largest video game manufacturer, fell by 11.45% to $76.81 per paper, after a ban on a merger with Microsoft. At the same time, Microsoft securities rose by 7.73% and reached a value of $296.7 per share. The drop in quotations occurred after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked Microsoft's deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. The website of the British department reports the reason for the ban. The CMA document notes that cloud services allow British gamers to avoid buying expensive gaming consoles and PCs, and also give them a much greater degree of freedom and the ability to choose how to play. In the event of a merger with Blizzard, Microsoft Corporation may take an extremely strong position in the cloud gaming market, which, in turn, may undermine the innovation processes and development of other companies. Thus, the regulator fears that the deal could lead to a significant reduction in competition in the markets of game consoles, subscriptions and cloud computing. If Blizzard were acquired, Microsoft would become the third largest gaming company in the world after Tencent and Sony.
