EU and UK competition law expert, Stephen Smith, has been quoted in The Times’ article “Competition regulator stands firm over Microsoft gaming deal”.

The piece summarises the approval of Microsoft’s $69 billion (£56.5 billion) takeover of Activision Blizzard, who are the creators of games such as Candy Crush, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. There were initial concerns from the regulator about consumer choice and competition in the cloud gaming market, but as of last week the restructured deal has been approved.

Stephen commented that “it would be a mistake for businesses to think that the regulator has gone soft” and suggested that the watchdog “stood tall and would not be bullied” despite the pressure that Microsoft and Activision gave.

To read the full article, see the The Times website (subscription required).