Britain's competition watchdog said today it had started an investigation into Microsoft's $68.7 billion deal to buy "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had until September 1 to make its phase 1 decision on whether the deal between the US technology company and video-game maker Activision would reduce competition in the UK.
The phase 1 investigation by the CMA will either lead to the deal being cleared or will move to a more in-depth phase 2 probe.
In the biggest gaming industry deal in history, Microsoft in January said it was buying Activision Blizzard.
According to Refinitiv data, the Microsoft-Activision deal would be the largest all-cash acquisition on record.
