Xbox's acquisition of Activision Blizzard looks to almost be complete in the UK, as the Competition and Markets Authority has today narrowed its "scope of concerns" relating to the deal, specifically in regards to the "lessening of competition".
Basically, the CMA no longer thinks that the deal poses any threat to the console market, meaning Sony's concerns about Call of Duty are now falling on deaf ears. Here's a bit of what the CMA had to say in its latest press release:
"Having considered the additional evidence provided, we have now provisionally concluded that the merger will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in console gaming services because the cost to Microsoft of withholding Call of Duty from PlayStation would outweigh any gains from taking such action."
Although this might sound like the CMA is fully in favour of the acquisition, it's pointed out further down the press release that today's provisional findings have no relation to the CMA's ongoing concerns about the cloud gaming market, so there's still plenty to be settled before the regulator reaches its final verdict by late April.
"Our provisional view that this deal raises concerns in the cloud gaming market is not affected by today’s announcement. Our investigation remains on course for completion by the end of April."
It's not over just yet, then, but today undoubtedly marks a big step forward for Microsoft's attempt to gain approval for the Activision Blizzard acquisition in the UK. We're hopefully almost there, folks!