Microsoft / Blizzard merger is going to win on June 12th!

So Microsoft/Blizzard had an initial court hearing about the meeting, with the UK CMA regulators, being judged by the CAT (Competition Appeal Tribunal)

It was the legal equivalent of an OWL 5Stack pubstomping a team of brand new players. The CMA lawyer had only 2 days on the case. Meanwhile the Microsoft/Blizzard was fielding two world class lawyers, one of which previously represented the Queen of England.

And while I thought the CMA Lawyer’s arguments were ridiculously weak, but one statement stuck out to me:

The CMA Lawyer was asking hypothetically if they made a “incontrovertible error” if they would be allowed to go grab more admissible evidence to support their argument. Weird huh?

The CAT judge then immediately shot that down, since this is an appeal. Not a brand new trial. The CMA is stuck with the evidence they have.

But get this, the CMA’s entire argument rides on

“Cloud is a market, a very very important market, that needs OUR PROTECTION”.

And their ONLY admissible piece of expert evidence on the subject is a document titled in big bold letters:

“Cloud Gaming is Not a Distinct Market”

And the Cloud Market is the CMA’s ONLY remaining admissible argument. They have NO MORE ARGUMENTS.

I thought the CMA arguments were bad. But Holy Jeff, I didn’t think the CMA were this ridiculously bad at their jobs.

And the next initial court hearing is on June 12th. I honestly feel bad for the fledgling CMA’s lawyer. June 12th is going to be a circus.

After that, Microsoft might want to wait for South Africa, New Zealand, and maybe Australia.

And while the US FTC might be able to get the case put on a 14 day hold, called a TRO. Maaaybe. If they can’t get a Federal Judge to agree with them on getting a “Preliminary Injunction”. Microsoft is clear to close the deal.

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So… Does this mean we are finally getting rid of Kotick? Who’s gonna take the blame now? Phil Spencer? So be it.

I hate you Phil, you ruined Overwatch.

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Let’s see what this is about…

That Twitter guy isn’t a reliable source…

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Microsoft did a great job on AOE2… Maybe it will get better for Overwatch 2. I am delighted.

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Why would they wanna buy a company that lies and is super greedy? Sounds like a lose/lose for Microsoft…

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He’s referencing public documents on the CMA website…

This comment by the CMA lawyer makes so much sense now.

Hahahaha.

It also explains why the lawyer they brought in had only 2 days on the case. Nobody at the CMA wanted to be the public face of so much failure.

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I don’t know why everyone is getting their hopes up about this buyout. Even if MS is in charge, it won’t change anything here.

And wouldn’t be surprised if Bobby is kept on board as a Senior VP or consultant after the deal. That happens a lot, especially if the former CEO has been integral to the company’s corporate success.

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If they were opposed to buying companies that try to make money and have canceled content than they would never buy another company or make another game ever again.

Yeah I’ve seen the website…

But whatever he has to say about it and how he has framed it is biased and probably wrong…

I won’t pass judgment on a hearing that I couldn’t witness for myself…

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Dude, the CMA block is dead.

Their entire argument rides on
“Cloud is a market, a very very important market, that needs OUR PROTECTION”.

And their ONLY admissible piece of expert evidence on the subject is a document titled in big bold letters
“Cloud Gaming is Not a Distinct Market”

And the CAT judge shot down their right to go get more evidence.

And the Cloud Market is their ONLY remaining admissible argument. They have NO MORE ARGUMENTS.

Plain and simple. They lose. Game over.

Melissa Kelly is still going at it about Bobster. I truly hope he goes away with the MS buyout.

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I am really hoping MS gets this deal. As a Gamepass subscriber, I’m hyped for all the games.

Not a huge fan of Microsoft getting larger.

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CMA is getting alone day by day with its decision.

uhh what’s this mean

Sadly… As long as Kotick is alive, never. The day he leaves ABK he would be public enemy #1 Now he has the golden parachute.

One sec.

This wont actually make the game any better

It wont make balance better, wont make a pve game appear, wont fix the shop. THe OP is too obsessed with Bobby when he doesnt even matter that much

Hes not whats really wrong with the game. This is just a stock merger where the big players involved hardly care about overwatch and might even be willing to cancel it

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you should look up a few more government agencies, it paints a picture

I wouldn’t be surprised if the main goal of it is just for Microsoft to get a solid foot into the mobile gaming market. I’d expect them to keep the PC segment working as-is without putting too much effort into it. No one in the real world cares about Overwatch, WoW or Diablo. Stock wouldn’t move a pixel if they announced Overwatch was shutting down tomorrow.

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