Google is explicitly mentioned on page 337 of the CMA’s final decision report, which states: “Furthermore, Microsoft submitted that the ‘two primary complainants’ against the deal (SIE and Google) each have ample incentive to maintain the status quo or derail the merger in order to extract higher profits at the expense of game developers and gamers.”
Google is the only company that failed in the cloud gaming space; in January 2023, the tech giant shut down Stadia after a 3-year run. The company introduced a wildly controversial B2P (“buy-to-play”) cloud business model, which required users to purchase games at full price on the Stadia storefront and stream them exclusively on Stadia.
The fact that Google not only failed to gain traction in the cloud gaming segment, but also failed to innovate the storefront model, gives the company a unique perspective in these proceedings and caught the attention of the CMA. The latter suggested that the Microsoft-Activision merger could effectively hinder any future innovation in such a model, given the strength of Activision’s brands in the cloud segment.
Current trends show that B2P is unlikely to establish itself in the cloud gaming segment, but neither the CMA nor anyone else can predict what will happen in the future. For example, nobody anticipated the incredible value of Xbox Game Pass, and that business model significantly transformed the video game industry.