The acquisition was announced on the 18th of January this year for a price of $95 per share working out to a total of $68.7bn (£57.3bn). It comes in a series of acquisitions as Microsoft has been steadily growing its gaming business having acquired ZeniMax, the parent company of Bethesda, in March 2021.

Known as the owner of big gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Hearthstone, Activision Blizzard is already one of the largest and most successful companies in the industry. Combined with Microsoft’s huge market share due to ownership of the Xbox platform and countless game IPs, completion of the transaction would solidify Microsoft as the third largest gaming company after Tencent and Sony.

The investigation comes as the CMA makes a push to more thoroughly scrutinise deals among the big tech firms. In this case, there are worries that the merger could lead to higher prices for consumers or less choice. The CMA has set a tentative deadline of September 1st to decide whether to launch a more in-depth investigation.