³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Microsoft's new offer to buy games company Activision Blizzard has been approved by UK regulators.

The $69bn (£59bn) bid to buy Activision Blizzard is the biggest takeover of one company by another in the history of gaming.

Microsoft's offer was initially blocked back in April by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), whose job it is to make sure that things are fair and that one company doesn't have too much control or power.

The deal - which has taken almost two years to approve - means that Xbox and Microsoft will own the rights to several game franchises, including the legendary PlayStation exclusive Crash Bandicoot.

That means future Crash games could skip the PlayStation entirely to be released only on Xbox consoles instead.

After rejecting the first offer, CMA chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said: "We were clear that that deal couldn't go ahead, because it would have harmed competition, and that would have been bad for UK gamers.

"We stood our ground. We were prepared to defend that decision in court, but Microsoft came forward with a major concession.

"We've made sure Microsoft can't have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market" she said.

The deal has proved to be pretty controversial and has received a mixed responses from other gaming companies like Sony and Nintendo, as well as regulators around the world.

The games made by Activision Blizzard are some of the most popular in the world.

Some of the titles now owned by Microsoft include Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Candy Crush and Call of Duty - which is popular among older gamers.

And, depending on what Microsoft want to do with the games, they could all become exclusives - meaning you can only play them on Microsoft devices or Xbox consoles - going forward.

Microsoft bought the popular game-maker Bethesda for $7.5bn back in 2020 in a similar move.

The purchase of Activision Blizzard comes as Microsoft looks to expand its Game Pass service, a paid for subscription that allows Xbox owners to play a number of games on the console.

Phil Spencer, the boss of Xbox, says they "will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass."

Microsoft has also said it would be stupid for it to suddenly stop selling hugely successful games series to millions of potential customers and has said it has signed agreements with Sony and Nintendo saying that popular games like Call of Duty will still be available on their consoles.

Many other big companies have been looking at buying up gaming studios in recent years.

Despite past issues with availability, it's reported that the PlayStation 5 is outselling Microsoft's latest Xbox, the Series X.

That could be because Sony's machines have had more appealing exclusive titles, such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales and other games that can't be played on Xbox consoles.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ gaming reporter, Steffan Powell says: "In the battle to attract more gamers to their platforms these exclusive titles and experiences are crucial.

"It is not yet clear if Activision Blizzard games, which at the moment can be played on both Microsoft and Sony consoles, will become exclusive to Xbox."

As for what's next in gaming, a Netflix-style subscription service could be how we play games in the future.

And, if Microsoft is able to offer more exclusive content through the game companies it's bought, then that could give Microsoft and Xbox a huge advantage over the likes of Sony moving forward.

Are you a gaming fan? What do you think of this news? Let us know in the comments!