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.
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.”
A handy little update to the official ChatGPT app means you can now use Apple’s Siri to talk to the chatbot.
The useful trick works through an Apple feature called Shortcuts that lets you automate tasks on your iPhone.
Once set up, you can basically ask Siri to fetch answers from ChatGPT. It’s kind of like rewiring Siri’s brain to make the otherwise limited digital assistant a lot smarter. Until Apple gives the voice bot an AI language upgrade, this is the next best thing.
OpenAI launched the free ChatGPT iPhone app in the US last month, and quickly brought it to the UK. Although the app already offers a voice input feature that relies on its Whisper speech-recognition system, linking it to Siri means you can also use it on other Apple devices like a HomePod smart speaker.
Setting up the new feature is a breeze – here’s what you need to do.
Now, head to the Shortcuts app, which is available on any iPhone running iOS 12 or later.
Here, you can click the plus icon in the top-right corner and search for ChatGPT to set up the default Shortcut.
However, if you want to customise it, then you should click on the Shortcuts button in the top-left corner, and you should see ChatGPT under “App Shortcuts.”
Now, select “Add to shortcut” and tweak it how you want. For instance, you can set it to react to a specific command, such as “Hey Siri, Ask AI” instead of the standard prompt “Hey Siri, Ask ChatGPT”.
Watch out for ChatGPT clones
Within three weeks of its launch, the OpenAI ChatGPT app was downloaded 5 million times, according to data.ai.
The bot landed in an App Store full of clones and duplicates with similar-sounding names, some of which were using shady tactics to charge users for their services.
Thankfully, you can usually spot these dubious “fleeceware” apps by their low review scores. Google and Apple also removed some of the worst rip-offs after they were contacted by cybersecurity researchers.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage finally showed the much-anticipated return of classic elements from the franchise during the PlayStation Showcase. This trailer highlighted various elements, encouraging fans to anticipate future gameplay from Ubisoft.
A developer diary from the studio has now been released, highlighting classic elements featured in the Assassin’s Creed title. This includes stealth, assassinations, and parkour mechanics.
Why it matters: Many fans have been waiting for a classic Assassin’s Creed experience since the RPG trilogy. Mirage promises a return to the basic formula, focusing on the core Assassin’s Creed experience.
Here is the full version of #AssassinsCreed Mirage – “A Return to the Roots”!
This is the first of series of 3 dev diaries on #AssassinsCreedMirage and is specifically focused on Parkour, Stealth and Assassinations!
— Access The Animus (@AccessTheAnimus) June 9, 2023
The developer diary explains Ubisoft’s thought process and focuses when returning to the classic formula.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage brings parkour mechanics like elevators, vaulting, and a dense map that encourages creative movement. Basim is more agile than recent Assassins, making parkour more fluid than before. Ubisoft also introduces new mechanics like the pole vault.
For fans of stealth, elements like social stealth will be making a comeback. Additionally, players can utilize bench assassinations, and Ubisoft has added more animations for stealth kills. This should ensure players are encouraged to pick the stealthy approach as they play through the upcoming release.
The game promotes freedom in story missions, allowing players to approach assassinations at their own pace. Assassin’s Creed Mirage also features bureaus that act as mission hubs, allowing players to take up side quests like assassinations and rescue missions.
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Assassin’s Creed Mirage is set to launch on October 12. Ubisoft has previously stated that the game was inspired by fan demand for a classic Assassin’s Creed experience, and the first developer diary shows just a few ways, in which Ubisoft is looking to bring the old formula to life.
One interpretation of the beginning footage in the trailer is that it’s showing the events in an alternate timeline. Cloud is missing from the group of Avalanche members’ bodies recovered by Shinra, seemingly after their attempt to break out of the headquarters or potentially during a routine reactor bombing mission. The fact that the spikey-haired hero is missing has some fans wondering if the footage is a brief look at a Final Fantasy VII timeline where he never made it to Midgar, or perhaps one where he joins Sephiroth instead of fighting him at the end of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Another theory is that the footage is made-up altogether. We don’t actually see direct shots of the Avalanche members’ bodies. Instead it’s through the eyes of Shinra TV, an organization with a clear and documented history of fake news and propaganda. It’s possible the footage is just showing how Shinra will eventually try to cover up the team’s headquarters rampage and ensuing car chase to keep the residents of Midgar calm and in the dark.
The trailer gives us our first look at a Chocobo out in the wild at the farm where players were eventually able to breed them in the original game. It’s unclear if that mechanic will be saved for the final game in the remake trilogy, or if players will get the chance to breed a Gold Chocobo in Rebirth and even take it to race it at the Gold Saucer. I can only imagine how many hours I’ll be spending on the Chocobo tracks if that’s the case.
The Turks are on the chase again and Elena is their newest member. The reckless recruit is as much of a punk as ever in the new trailer. She has a crush on Tseng, the leader of the Turks, and her antics with Rude and the rest will no doubt spawn an endless number of memes. Her cameo in the trailer is already leading to a ton of fan art.
Ho Ho Hooo! Bugenhagen has made the jump to PS5 as well and the Cosmo Canyon elder looks glorious. Red XIII’s surrogate grandfather can be heard explaining how the planet relies on the Lifestream to exist, and he still doesn’t have legs and floats around instead. One of the game’s most beloved and strange-looking characters in his original 32-bit form, the glow up is real and players are loving it.
The Shinra airship doesn’t get a moment to shine in the trailer, but it can be seen in the background of the initial shot of the seaside military base Juno. It might end up that only in the trilogy’s final game will players get to step inside and take the reins over for themselves, but in the meantime the Highwind is already getting fans excited for when that moment comes.
“I saw you lying there. I figured it was too late,” Cloud said in the first Rebirth trailer. “Wait, what are you implying? That I died? That I’m some kind of imposter?” responded Tifa. In the new trailer Sephiroth says, “You know that I killed her, so who is she?” This has fans wondering if the Tifa we know from Remake is actually a clone, or a version of Jenova, Sephiroth’s mutant alien half-mom. It’s possible that the developers are just building intrigue by how the dialogue is framed, or maybe it’s laying the groundwork for a radically different outcome to the rest of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s story.
This all culminates in what would be the weirdest twist of all: Aerith not dying in the remake trilogy. The dream of saving Final Fantasy VII’s iconic flower girl is as old as the game itself, with urban legends that an option to stop Sephiroth from killing her or bring her back to life were hidden inside the game or cut at the last minute. If Tifa, or at least the original version of her, was killed at some point, maybe it implies that Aerith will live instead, or that Cloud will have the option to choose between different timelines where one set of tragic events is replaced with another. Or maybe this is all just the same type of wishful thinking Final Fantasy VII fans have been using to cope since the game came out. We’ll see what answers Rebirth provides when it arrives early next year. For now it’s fun to believe anything’s possible.
Kotaku is covering everything Summer Game Fest, from the main show on Thursday to other events happening throughout the next week. Whether you’re into larger-than-life triple-A games or intimate, offbeat indies, you can keep up with all things SGF here.
