Sir Ian Livingstone, the co-founder of Games Workshop Group PLC (LSE:GAW), has contradicted comments made by the UK competition watchdog after shutting down Microsoft’s US$69bn takeover of Activision Blizzard, in what would have been the largest merger in video gaming history.
Speaking to the BBC on Friday about the cancelled merger, Livingstone said: "I think the sentiment of the games industry itself in the UK is for it to go ahead,” adding that “It would be odd if the UK was the only region to object to this acquisition going forward”.
His comments conflict with those made by Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, who considered it a victory for UK gamers and businesses.
“What our independent decision group found after a long and careful investigation was that combining those two businesses would really reinforce Microsoft’s strong position in cloud gaming. That would be problematic because it would really harm the ability of other platforms to compete effectively,” said Cardell.
Microsoft president Brad Smith called it “probably the darkest day” in Microsoft’s 40-year history, condemning the decision as “bad for Britain”.
As a stalwart of the UK gaming sector, having co-founded Games Workshop in the 70s before helping with the formation of Eidos Interactive, Livingstone’s comments come with decades of experience working in the sector.
Eidos (later becoming a British subsidiary of Japanese gaming group Square Enix) created the hugely successful Tomb Raider Franchise, while Games Workshop continues to manufacture the Warhammer tabletop wargame miniatures.
Dozens of video games, books, TV shows and even albums have been spun out of the Warhammer franchise.