Microsoft President Brad Smith has stated that the decision by
the UK to block the company's acquisition of gaming firm Activision Blizzard is
a confidence-shaking move, and that the European Union (EU) is a more
attractive place to do business. Speaking to the BBC, Smith expressed that the
Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) decision to block Microsoft's
purchase of Activision was the "darkest" day in the 40 years that
they had operated in the country.
Smith said that this decision was disappointing and "a bad decision for the UK in its
own right. It shakes our confidence in the future of technology opportunities
in the UK. People were surprised, disappointed, and the confidence in
technology in the UK has been deeply shaken. There is a clear message here that
the EU is a more attractive place to do business than the UK."
The UK competition
Authority CMA announced yesterday that it had blocked Microsoft's acquisition
of Activision for around $69 billion, citing concerns that it would change the
future of the cloud gaming market. US gaming company Activision develops and
distributes world-famous games such as Call of Duty, Candy Crush, and World of
Warcraft.