Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Talks Proposed Activision Blizzard Buyout

Activision Blizzard reps already spoke out about the company's views on the latest UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report. Now, it's Microsoft's turn. In a CNBC news segment, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella answered questions about how strongly he feels about Microsoft acquiring Activision and how confident he was in the deal happening in the present compared to before.

The road to acquiring Activision Blizzard hasn't been an easy one. During the interview with Nadella, CNBC presented a slide displaying the Microsoft Azure growth slump from 64 percent revenue growth in Q2 2022 to 38 percent in Q2 2023. Another slide displayed a tumultuous timeline of events from when the acquisition was first announced in January 18, 2022 to the current date. Microsoft and Activision faced multiple hurdles, including an objection from Sony to the CMA, a lawsuit from the FTC, and concerns from Google and Nvidia about the ongoing deal.

Most recently, the CMA published a report that warned about how the acquisition could negatively affect the UK gaming market. Activision representatives, including CEO Bobby Kotick, addressed the CMA report in statements to the media and internal emails earlier this week. Nadella backed Kotick's statements about bringing "more competitiveness" to the gaming industry and noted that he understood that it was up to the regulators to make the final call about the acquisition. Still, he urged regulators to consider alternative questions and "really reflect" on how the deal could drive competition rather than hinder it.

"There are people who make more money in gaming who don't even build games today. Maybe we should look at that," he said on CNBC. He also brought up Microsoft's small share of the console market in Japan as an example where the company could actually stand to compete more. In the end, he reiterates, "I hope that the regulators take an approach that is going to truly be beneficial to gamers."