Microsoft's $69B purchase of Activision gets European Union approval
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Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) planned $69 billion acquisition of Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) received antitrust approval from European regulators. Activision rose 0.7%.
The European Commission agreed to approve the videogame megadeal after Microsoft (MSFT) agreed to allow rivals to offer titles such as "Call of Duty" on their cloud gaming platforms, the regulator said in a statement on Monday.
"The commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current situation," the EU regulators said in a statement.
The EU approval comes after the UK's antitrust authority moved to block the combination last month, citing concerns about cloud gaming. While the European approval is important, the decision to block in the UK is viewed by some as the likely end of the road for the deal. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also sued to block the $95 a share deal for Activision in December, with a trial scheduled to start in August.
"The European Commission has required Microsoft to license popular Activision Blizzard games automatically to competing cloud gaming services," Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said in a statement. "This will apply globally and will empower millions of consumers worldwide to play these games on any device they choose.â 
Activision (ATVI) CEO Bobby Kotick late last month said that the UK antitrust regulator's decision to block the videogame giant's sale to Microsoft (MSFT) was a "flawed ruling in every respect."
Japanese entertainment giant Sony (SONY), which competes with Microsoft (MSFT) in gaming, has repeatedly come out against the deal. Microsoft has not signed a cloud gaming deal with Sony, but has signed deals with Nintendo (OTCPK:NTDOY), Nvidia (NVDA) and others.
"The commitments offered by Microsoft will enable for the first time the streaming of such games in any cloud game streaming services, enhancing competition and opportunities for growth," EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement on Monday.
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