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Microsoft bid for Activision Blizzard blocked by UK competition regulator

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The UK’s competition regulator has blocked Microsoft’s attempted takeover of Activision Blizzard, the developer behind hit video games such as Call of Duty, in what would have been the largest acquisition in gaming history.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) prevented the $68.7bn (£55bn) cash purchase because of concerns it would squash the cloud gaming market.

The tie-up would have created a gaming behemoth, merging Activision’s plethora of “AAA” titles, which also include World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Candy Crush Saga and Overwatch, with Microsoft’s burgeoning stable of first-party developers, its Xbox consoles and its control of PC gaming.

The block follows the CMA’s decision in October last year to prevent Meta acquiring the animated gif search engine Giphy.

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Anne Witt, a law professor and member of the EDHEC Augmented Law Institute, described the Activision decision as “huge news”.

She said: “The CMA is the only competition agency globally to have ever prohibited a big-tech merger, and now they’ve done it twice. While the UK is a little behind in terms of platform regulation, the CMA is really taking a leadership role in big tech merger control.”

The regulator’s decision on Activision Blizzard had seemed to be tilting in Microsoft’s favour after it announced earlier this month that it was content with the Seattle-based company’s promises to make Call of Duty available on other platforms for at least a decade. Those promises, it said, preserved competition in the home console market, against protests from the PlayStation owner Sony.

But the CMA eventually concluded that the burgeoning field of cloud gaming, which lets users stream video games to play on their phones or TVs without investing in specialised hardware, was more likely to be warped if the purchase were allowed.

Microsoft offers a subscription service, Xbox Cloud Gaming, which allows access to many of its first-party titles for a single monthly fee, and it would have been likely to include Call of Duty in the bundle.

Martin Coleman, the chair of the independent panel of experts conducting the investigation, said: “Gaming is the UK’s largest entertainment sector. Cloud gaming is growing fast with the potential to change gaming by altering the way games are played, freeing people from the need to rely on expensive consoles and gaming PCs and giving them more choice over how and where they play games. This means that it is vital that we protect competition in this emerging and exciting market.

“Microsoft already enjoys a powerful position and head start over other competitors in cloud gaming and this deal would strengthen that advantage giving it the ability to undermine new and innovative competitors.”

The regulator concluded that Microsoft’s proposed remedies were insufficient to allow the merger to go ahead, because they failed to “sufficiently cover” other cloud-gaming business models. It also said they focused too heavily on protecting console competition but not PC gamers who used operating systems other than Windows, such as Mac and Linux.

Activision and Microsoft have the opportunity to appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal. If they do, the body is expected to issue a final decision before the end of the year.

Microsoft said it would appeal. Brad Smith, its vice-chair and president, said: “The CMA’s decision rejects a pragmatic path to address competition concerns and discourages technology innovation and investment in the UK.

“We have already signed contracts to make Activision Blizzard’s popular games available on 150m more devices, and we remain committed to reinforcing these agreements through regulatory remedies. We’re especially disappointed that after lengthy deliberations, this decision appears to reflect a flawed understanding of this market and the way the relevant cloud technology actually works.”

An Activision Blizzard spokesperson said: “The CMA’s report contradicts the ambitions of the UK to become an attractive country to build technology businesses. We will work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this on appeal.

“The report’s conclusions are a disservice to UK citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects. We will reassess our growth plans for the UK. Global innovators large and small will take note that – despite all its rhetoric – the UK is clearly closed for business.”

In a note to employees published on Substack, Activision Blizzard’s chief executive, Bobby Kotick, said: “This isn’t the news we wanted, but it is far from the final word on this deal.”

 

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'Kingdom Come: Deliverance II' Revealed In Epic New Trailer And It Looks Incredible – Forbes

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“You can save the world, or you can help punish it for its sins.” That’s the crux of Warhorse Studio’s “behemoth” of a sequel to 2018’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance. The sequel, which is slated for release later this year on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS5 will be bigger, more fun, filled with adventure and more diverse thanks to its setting in the 15th century Bohemian city of Kuttenberg a city that creative director Daniel Vavra says is “really big, it’s even too big in my opinion.”

New weapons like the crossbow and primitive firearms will also make their debut in the continued story of the squire Henry (Tom McKay) and the knight he accompanies, Hans Capon (Luke Dale) as they leave the country behind.

Here’s the trailer, which features gameplay, cinematics and discussion from the actors and developers. Be sure to watch until the end to see the bit about the music. A full choir and orchestra in a beautiful Eastern European cathedral? Just gorgeous.

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“What we are making now is what it was supposed to be in the beginning, but we weren’t able to do it because we didn’t have enough resources and experiences and all that stuff,” Vavra says in the video. “We’ve proven the concept works, so now we can take it to another level, which is what we always wanted.”

“This is a behemoth of a game in comparison to the first. In my opinion I think it’s got so much more energy and pace and adventure and action and fun and trial and tribulation and everything you can want,” McKay says in the video.

The game will be “much bigger in scope” with a more in-depth story and a world roughly twice the size of the first. The story has evolved from a small-scale conflict to one about “the problem with kings,” Vavra says.

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Kingdom Come Deliverance II, like the first game, is not a fantasy RPG like Skyrim or The Witcher, but one that attempts to create a historically accurate world down to the weapons, costumes, locations and people. There are no magicians or dragons or elves here—but there will be plenty of adventure, exploration and knight errantry.

Pretty exciting!

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Save $700 Off This 4K Projector at Amazon While You Still Can – CNET

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While it’s true that high-end TVs seem to be getting ever bigger, they still can’t compete with the best projectors when it comes to image size. If you choose a good 4K projector you’ll even get top-notch image quality as well. Right now you can pick one of those projectors up and save a whopping $700 to boot. That’s possible thanks to an Amazon deal that slashes the Xgimi Horizon Pro projector’s price to just $999, a return to its best price ever there. This deal doesn’t require you to enter any pesky codes or clip any coupons, but these kinds of limited-time deals also don’t have a published end date which means that this discount could end at any minute and without warning — be sure to keep that in mind.

The Xgimi Horizon Pro 4K has a ton of features that make it a great option for anyone looking to upgrade their old projector or make the jump from a big-screen TV. The 4K resolution and support for HDR ensure you’ll get a great picture, while the ultra-bright 1,500 ISO lumens mean you won’t find yourself squinting at a dark image. Other features of note include auto keystone correction and an autofocus capability. And we didn’t even get to the fact that this projector can generate a 200-inch image yet, either.

Looking to enjoy content without the hassle of wires? This projector has Android TV built in so you can enjoy any of the more than 5,000 Google Play apps while Chomecast support is built-in as well.

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Alternatively, the Xgimi Halo Plus projector is our top pick for a portable 1080p projector, making it great for camping trips and more — and right now a 23% discount means you can get one for just $650. Finally, the Xgimi MoGo2 is another protector designed to help you want content on the go and now it’s available at almost its best price yet at just $250.

Not sure that a projector is for you but still want to enjoy a great picture? Our list of the best OLED TV deals is just the ticket.



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Nothing to integrate Chat-GPT into new earbuds and its phones – MobileSyrup

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During its new earbuds announcement event, Nothing shared that it plans to add Chat-GPT support to its earbuds.

The feature will be tied to Nothing Phones, so users with iPhones or other Android handsets will be stuck using Siri or Google Assistant instead.

If you want to take advantage of Open AI’s assistant, you’ll need to wait. A Nothing spokesperson told The Verge that the feature will roll out slowly to the Nothing Phone (2) starting on April 18th, followed by the Phone (1) and Phone (2a) a few weeks later. The company’s blog post also states that this is “coming soon to our other audio products,” so it seems like Ear (1) and Ear (2) owners will get the feature as well.

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It will be interesting to see if adding an AI chatbot to these earbud-based digital assistants will make people use them more. I typically use AirPods, and while I appreciate it when Siri reads my messages out loud, I never find myself triggering it through my earbuds to start timers or ask regular questions. That said, as new AI tools like the Humane Pin might fall flat, maybe something more subtle built into our existing tech will be more convenient for people.

Beyond how it works, integrating Chat-GPT is a smart move for Nothing. OpenAI has strong branding in AI, and using Chat-GPT instead of Google’s Gemini helps separate the Nothing phones from the Google Pixel lineup.

Nothing also plans to integrate Chat-GPT into Nothing OS 2.5.5. This includes a new Chat-GPT widget and options to analyze your screenshots and your clipboard with the AI assistant. Other improvements are coming in the update as well, including new Ringer controls and a RAM boost mode. You can see the full update list here.

Source: Nothing Via: The Verge

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