Britain says Microsoft's 'Call of Duty' deal could harm gamers

Britain's antitrust regulator said on Wednesday its in-depth probe had found that Xbox maker Microsoft's US$69-billion purchase of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard raised competition concerns about cloud and console gaming.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the deal could weaken the "important rivalry" between XBox and Sony's PlayStation consoles and could result in higher prices, fewer choices and less innovation for millions of gamers.

Martin Coleman, chair of the CMA's investigation, said: "Our job is to make sure that UK gamers are not caught in the crossfire of global deals that, over time, could damage competition and result in higher prices, fewer choices, or less innovation.

"We have provisionally found that this may be the case here."

The CMA said it would consider responses from the companies involved and other interested parties before it issues its final report by April 26.