Xbox boss tells staff focus on resolving CMA dispute, Verge reports

After Microsoft (MSFT) won a big legal dispute with the FTC to allow it to close its takeover of Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wrote a memo to employees about the result, saying the company’s focus is now on resolving the situation with the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority, The Verge’s Tom Warren reports. Both the Xbox maker and CMA have agreed to pause their legal conflict to discuss a potential remedy after the CMA initially blocked the deal, the author notes. “After today’s decision, we are turning our focus to the UK. As you may be aware, a few months ago, the UK Competition and Markets Authority recommended that the deal be prohibited,” Spencer told staff in the memo. “We disagree with the CMA’s concerns and have challenged its decision on appeal. At the same time, however, we are considering how the transaction might be modified to address the CMA’s concerns in a way that is acceptable to the CMA. In order to prioritize work on potential options, Microsoft and Activision have agreed with the CMA that pausing the appeal now would be in the public interest, and both we and the CMA have made a joint submission to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to this effect.”