CALL OF DUTY COULD BE BANNED IN THE UK

@Jag85: "What can they gain outside the UK that could make up for the loss of the UK?"

Like I said previously, if they can legally merge but in UK keep their Xbox market but have to exclude ABK content from Game Pass or ABK content from the UK market entirely, or place control of content with an independent third party temporarily, that's an easy decision. Right now MS makes no money off ABK content aside from console revenues, they'd be gaining a significant revenue stream, and that includes worldwide sales of ABK content. And yes, this will be a significant contribution in Xbox trying to grow their market both at home and abroad. It's a bigger benefit than letting the CMA hold up the merger longer, where they get no ABK revenues outside of their console royalties. If those are options, they'd be a net gain as long as their Xbox UK market and services don't get interrupted.

Regardless of whether Xbox's console market position shifts as a result, they'd definitely be benefiting from significant revenues of the merger even if everyone kept buying games like COD full price on PlayStation and PC. So, yeah, better to merge than to not, and again because you seem to disregard me saying this, if it doesn't risk Xbox losing its Xbox market in UK, just ability to sell ABK content or include it in Game Pass, or risk the appeal process, I don't see why they wouldn't.

Wonder how much of this drama will be solved by simply setting the console to a different region/country.

Probably all of it. If a game comes out in the US and not my country all I just do is change my region, buy it and start playing, pretty simple.

Good luck to the CMA trying to stop people changing their region lol.

If the CMA had sided with PlayStation, I’d at least understand and it would be a more complicated matter for MS to solve, but I can’t tell if the CMA is just trying to flex right now with this cloud gaming nonsense. It certainly doesn’t look like they do their research.

There is no way that Microsoft will boycott the UK and miss out on all that money when us Brits know how corrupt (IMO - of course) our Govt is and are just looking for their piece of the pie.

Just pick up a copy of UK magazine Private Eye to see some of the misdeeds that goes on.

Yeah... not gunna happen.

Good.