The UK's Competition and Markets Authority says that if Microsoft is serious about buying Activision Blizzard, there is one surefire way to do it: dissolve Activision Blizzard.

This bold proposal was announced in an update to the new Notice of Possible Remedies (opens in new tab), a procedural document outlining the CMA's concerns and the various ways in which Microsoft and Activision Blizzard might address them.

The CMA states that there are two types of "remedies" available in such situations: "structural" ones, which alter the terms of the proposed transaction, and "behavioral" ones, in which the parties promise to be good in effect in exchange for permission to do what they want. The CMA prefers structural remedies in merger situations. This is because structural remedies "require little monitoring and enforcement."

In the case of the Activision Blizzard acquisition, the CMA cites two possible structural remedies:

That is, basically, if Activision Blizzard sells off part of its company or holdings so that Microsoft does not gain control of the entire package in an acquisition or divestiture, the CMA would allow this acquisition. This is a big step, and given the significant value of all divisions of Activision Blizzard - Call of Duty, King Mobile Games, almost all of Blizzard's businesses, and the vast back catalog are all very lucrative components as a whole.

Activision is also not very interested in this plan. The CMA proposal does not represent a final decision on the deal," an Activision Blizzard representative said in an e-mail sent to PC Gamer. 'Microsoft now has the opportunity to make its case for the way forward. We already know that they want to keep Call of Duty available on all platforms.

"We look forward to addressing the CMA's concerns and are confident that this deal is good for players and good for competition in the gaming industry.

As Activision Blizzard puts it, the CMA's notice is not some sort of final ruling, but is "intended as a starting point for discussions" between the CMA, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. But the fact that a breakup is being floated feels like a turning point: a breakup is not a particularly unusual response when a proposed merger faces regulatory hurdles (the Federal Trade Commission has a guide on it (open in new tab)), but as far as I know, the proposed Activision Blizzard split This is the first time that a split of Activision Blizzard has been proposed. However, as far as I know, this is the first time that a split of Activision Blizzard has been proposed: if the CMA is considering this idea, the FTC must be considering it as well.

Despite seemingly growing resistance to the CMA's proposed merger, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick seems uninterested in taking a conciliatory stance: in a recent interview with CNBC, he accused the regulator of "independent thinking (opens in new tab) )" and warned that if the deal is not approved, the U.K. "will become Death Valley, not Silicon Valley."