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Writer's pictureBy The Financial District

Microsoft Boss Changes Tune, Hammering Away At UK

Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, has backtracked on criticism he made last year that the UK was "bad for business."


Smith criticized the UK after the competition watchdog initially blocked the tech giant's planned takeover of the gaming giant Activision Blizzard. I Photo: Web Summit Flickr



Smith made the comments after the competition watchdog initially blocked the tech giant's planned takeover of the gaming giant Activision Blizzard, as reported by BBC News.


He stated that people's confidence in the UK had been "severely shaken." However, he has now acknowledged that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which went on to approve the deal, was tough and fair.


All the news: Business man in suit and tie smiling and reading a newspaper near the financial district.

Smith mentioned in an interview with the BBC's Today Program, "It pushed Microsoft to change the acquisition that we had proposed, for Activision Blizzard to spin out certain rights that the CMA was concerned about with respect to cloud gaming."


In April last year, the CMA blocked Microsoft's acquisition of Activision over concerns it would reduce innovation and mean less choice for consumers in the fast-growing cloud gaming business.


Business: Business men in suite and tie in a work meeting in the office located in the financial district.

Microsoft owns the Xbox gaming console, while Activision Blizzard produces games, including the popular Call of Duty series. At the time of the original rejection, Smith also suggested it made the European Union (EU) a more attractive place to do business.




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