London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Furious Microsoft boss says confidence in UK 'severely shaken'

Furious Microsoft boss says confidence in UK 'severely shaken'

Microsoft's president has attacked the UK after it was blocked from buying US gaming firm Activision, saying the EU was a better place to start a business.

The move was "bad for Britain" and marked Microsoft's "darkest day" in its four decades of working in the country, Brad Smith told the BBC.

The regulator hit back saying it had to do what's best for people, "not merging firms with commercial interests".

The UK's move means the multi-billion dollar deal cannot go ahead globally.

Although US and EU regulators have yet to decide on whether to approve the deal, the UK regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said: "Activision is intertwined through different markets - it can't be separated for the UK. So this decision blocks the deal from happening globally."

If it had been approved, the $68.7bn (£55bn) deal would have been the gaming industry's biggest ever takeover, and would have seen Microsoft get hold of massively popular games titles such as Call of Duty, Candy Crush and World of Warcraft.

Both Microsoft and Activision have said they will appeal against the CMA's decision.


'Clear message'


In an interview with the BBC's Wake up to Money programme, Mr Smith said Microsoft was "very disappointed" with the CMA's decision, "but more than that, unfortunately, I think it's bad for Britain".

"It does more than shake our confidence in the future of the opportunity to grow a technology business in Britain than we've ever confronted before," he said.

"People are shocked, people are disappointed, and people's confidence in technology in the UK has been severely shaken.

"There's a clear message here - the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business than the United Kingdom."

A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Mr Smith was wrong to say the CMA's decision was bad for Britain and that the EU was a better place to do business.

"Those sorts of claims are not borne out by the facts," the spokesman said, adding that the UK games sector had doubled in size over the last 10 years.

The government would continue to engage with Microsoft, he said, but pointed out that the CMA was independent.

For the deal to work, it has to be approved by regulators in the UK, the US and the EU.

The UK is the first to announce its decision, but the US Federal Trade Commission last year began a legal challenge to block the takeover.

In March, EU regulators delayed their decision after Microsoft proposed concessions to get the deal over the line.

Activision Blizzard makes hit games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush


The UK government has made it one of its post-Brexit goals to bring in a "light-touch" set of rules for science and technology to encourage economic growth.

However, a number of recent takeovers of British firms by overseas ones has increased concerns that the UK market is declining in importance, and is failing to attract fast-growing tech firms.

Microsoft has already said the decision may have an impact on its UK investment.

Mr Smith said that if the UK wants to bring in investment, then "it needs to look hard at the role of the CMA and the regulatory structure".


UK 'absolutely open for business'


The CMA's chief executive, Sarah Cardell, told the Today programme that she did not agree with Mr Smith's comments.

"I think this decision shows actually how important it is to support competition in the UK and that the UK is absolutely open for business," she said.

"We want to create an environment where a whole host of different companies can compete effectively, can grow and innovate."

In its ruling on Wednesday the regulator said it was concerned the deal would hit innovation and give gamers less choice in the fast-growing cloud gaming market, where people buy subscriptions to access games online.

The merger is important for Microsoft because it sees cloud gaming as the future of the industry and wants to strengthen its position in the market.

The Activision deal would also give it some very popular games titles, allowing it to compete more effectively with rivals like Sony.

Sony's position is that if the deal went ahead, Microsoft would have an incentive to restrict access to Activision's titles to PlayStation, which would be bad for gamers.

The CMA said Microsoft already had a 60-70% share of the cloud gaming market, and combining with Activision would "really reinforce... [its] strong position".

"That would be problematic because it would really harm the ability of other competing cloud platforms to compete effectively and offer the kind of innovation and product choice that we want to see in this market," Ms Cardell said.

Gareth Sutcliffe, senior games analyst at Enders Analysis, said Microsoft had misjudged its approach.

"The signs were clear for months that this deal was in trouble with UK regulators and yet Microsoft executives didn't prioritise it or heed the evidence that it was," he told the BBC.

Mr Sutcliffe added that Mr Smith's comments about the UK were "somewhat redundant".

"They [Microsoft] had ample opportunity to do things differently over the past 16 months - they've not provided a convincing enough case."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
×