Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked Microsoft's bid for Activision Blizzard on Wednesday. This is a major blow to Microsoft, which has been trying to convince British authorities that the deal will promote competition in the market. Microsoft said it plans to appeal the ruling. The CMA said the deal raised concerns about competition in the nascent cloud gaming market. The CMA had previously expressed concern that the deal would affect market competition in the console industry, but ruled out such concerns in its preliminary decision in March. The CMA believes that Microsoft may make Activision's games exclusive to its cloud gaming platform Xbox Game Pass, cutting off Activision's distribution of games to other major cloud gaming platforms. "Allowing Microsoft to occupy such a powerful position, just as the cloud gaming industry is beginning to grow rapidly, risks undermining innovation, which is critical to the industry's growth," the CMA said in a press release.