I believe regulators will be able to see the nuance here if MS does pull out of the U.K. I still believe MS has some more cards to play before it gets to that point.
Yes because they might block a Microsoft transaction or take action against them at some point (the eu may potentially be about to investigate MS) and the whole system is built around people abiding by rulings.
You need to take a bigger picture view, rather than obsessing on the single deal. Regulators arenât cheering MS on they are making a decision and backing it. But if Ms shows they want to be bigger than a regulator or government the global backlash will be massive.
Would be a massive heel turn and ultimately prove that people were right to have an anti big tech stance if they were willing to do this. Itâs why I ultimately just see this as posturing rather than something they would ever do.
Do people actually understand the reasons why governments are anti big tech?, Itâs isnât because businesses can choose to leave markets⌠You know which many of them have done very recently for a certain country.
I dont know, I think the reputation of UK and its regulators will tank first. In the end of the day they would be respecting the autonomy o cma if they pull out or something related as pulling out xcloud or gamepass. In the case of every other regulator approved the deal, if CMA still blocks it, they are selling their things elsewhere. Especially when the whole process has been blatantly fault.
Letâs stop saying what they can and canât do or what they would or wonât do. What makes sense is better.
Satya has that Hulk aura. You wouldnât like him when heâs angry.
What makes sense is deactivating the entire countries windows licenses and holding them hostage until the CMA is disbanded!
/s
If it is that easy, they shouldnt even wait for the appeal. As demonstrated, xcloud in the UK is irrelevant, and UK Xbox users should know whos to blame for not having ABK games on their subs.
If youâre looking for sense in all of this, youâre in the wrong place. 
Like I said I donât think it would happen, but it does put to question if not being a âgoodâ big tech company does anything then why be. If regulators are going to just block deals with almost no merit and theyâve tried everything they could to alleviate concerns but they just went nup sorry no deal, how does one deal with that.
What I think will have is less willingness to further invest in that region, not to get one back at them and make them hurt but investing in a region with what seemingly looks like a body that can block anything at will with hardly any repercussions, why risk having to go up against that often.
Also just to be clear Iâm not on the boat that theyâre going to leave the UK, my original comment was just an observation of a crazy scenario.
Yep, feel the same way.
If youâre Microsoft, you still want this deal to go through relatively unscathed. The appeal process could still lead to the deal ultimately going through. If the result is the same, then you consider more ânuclearâ options.
Completely agree. You need first to explore all legal possibilities. That was just me waiting Diablo IV be on gamepass. 
Rulings have to be based on fact to be worth abiding.
If a regulator can manipulate or misrepresent data to block anything they want, then need some arbitrary nigh unreachable standard to be challenged/overturned, its not a country worth conducting business in.
A shrinking economy with draconian policy should not be the final arbiter of the business of two American companies who have obtained approval from every other relevant nation on earth. And I consider the US an eventual pass because the law is not on the FTCâs side, if we are talking about abiding.
As I said, I donât think it will happen. I think political pressure will win the day and it will eventually be overturned.
I agree, I donât think it will come to ringfencing operations, just something that could be considered if nothing else works.
Just to be clear I do not think MS even considers leaving the UK.
What I didnât really think of until I read it recently is that if MS would threaten the UK to leave the market this would have a ripple effect all over the world.
If one single company has the real power to black mail a country into satisfying its desires, some regulators will want to make sure this canât happen to them.
I am not saying that this deal with 100% pass for sure because there are still other regulators and things to play out. But I am saying that IF the UK CMA is the only legitimate regulator that is left standing against this deal (still think FTC settles or will lose in court based on clear facts of this one in the U.S.), then Microsoft will close this deal somehow even if it means some fencing off of the UK market with the relevant services/products or whatever. They will not permit a single rogue regulator in the UK that canât easily be taken to court such as in the U.S. to stop such a big deal. Anyone that says that this isnât possible is full of garbage and has nowhere near the facts or experience to say such a thing, let alone insights into a mega corporation and their concerns about growth in all areas outside of even gaming in this case.