As per a new report over at gamesindustry.biz we've got word that the UK based Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has made a decision that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard into the Xbox family "may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom".

Which roughly translated to the buyout being anti-consumer, or anti-PlayStation - and that a deeper investigation is needed. With the CMA citing Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush as "harming consumers by impairing Sony's - Microsoft's closest gaming rival - ability to compete". According to the report Microsoft and Activision Blizzard need to prove that the deal won't impact competition. Sony has made no secret that it's biggest concern over the deal is how Call of Duty will be released going forward, which is still one of the biggest games for the PlayStation brand. Which makes the CMA response in line with Sony's.

In a response to the CMA, Microsoft's Brad Smith said, "We’re ready to work with the CMA on next steps and address any of its concerns. Sony, as the industry leader, says it is worried about Call of Duty, but we’ve said we are committed to making the same game available on the same day on both Xbox and PlayStation. We want people to have more access to games, not less."

In addition to this, Xbox head Phil Spencer has written a new post discussing the deal - re-iterating that Call of Duty, like Minecraft before it, will remain multi-platform.