A | 日前航拍的沧州临港经济技术开发区。 LONDON -- Microsoft’s purchase of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard won final approval Friday from Britain’s competition watchdog, reversing its earlier decision to block the $69 billion gaming deal and removing the final obstacle for one of the largest tech transactions in history.The Xbox maker’s quest to acquire Activision — maker of other blockbuster games like Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch — could close imminently ahead of a Wednesday deadline. That would wrap up a merger delayed for close to two years by intense scrutiny from authorities around the world.The blessing from the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority was expected after it gave preliminary approval last month to a revamped Microsoft proposal meant to address concerns that the deal would harm competition and hurt gamers, especially in the emerging cloud gaming market where players can avoid buying pricey consoles and stream games to their tablets or phones. “The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers,” the watchdog said. Microsoft was grateful for the “thorough review and decision” on a tie-up that “will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide,” President Brad Smith said.Activision CEO Bobby Kotick says the game maker looks "forward to becoming part of the Xbox Team.”The deal will benefit gamers and be “productive for the gaming industry as a whole," said Josh Chapman, managing partner at venture capital firm Konvoy, which invests in video game startups.However, it also tilts the “balance of power significantly" in favor of Microsoft, whose Xbox console has lagged behind Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo, said George Jijiashvili, senior principal analyst at tech research and advisory firm Omdia. Microsoft “now has a big opportunity to dictate the future of the games industry,” he said. Since the deal was announced in January 2022, Microsoft has secured approvals from antitrust authorities covering more than 40 countries. Crucially, it got a thumbs-up from the 27-nation European Union after agreeing to allow users and cloud gaming platforms to stream its titles without paying royalties for 10 years.But the deal faced resistance from British and American regulators who worried it would stifle competition in the video game industry. Top rival Sony also feared it would limit PlayStation gamers’ access to Call of Duty, Activision’s long-running military shooter series. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission lost a court bid to pause the deal so that its in-house judge could review it. The FTC hasn't given up, appealing the decision and last month filing notice of its plan to resume that trial. That signals the U.S. regulator's intention to unwind the deal even after it closes. In the meantime, the U.K. regulator was the last major hurdle to the transaction going through. To gets its approval, Microsoft will sell off cloud streaming rights outside the EU and three other European countries for all current and new Activision games released over the next 15 years to French game studio Ubisoft Entertainment. British regulators had initially blocked the transaction over concerns Microsoft could withhold Activision titles from the cloud gaming market. Then, in an unprecedented move, the U.K. watchdog said it needed to reconsider.One factor was the EU’s approval, granted after Microsoft promised to automatically license Activision titles royalty-free to cloud gaming platforms. Another “material change of circumstance,” according to court documents, was an agreement Microsoft signed with Sony to make Call of Duty available on PlayStation for at least 10 years.But the regulator still criticized how the deal came together and warned other companies not to use the “tactics employed by Microsoft.”“Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn’t work,” the watchdog's CEO, Sarah Cardell, said in a statement. "Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money.”The U.K. regulator “deserves credit for imposing a structural remedy on Microsoft that is significantly stronger than the weak commitments accepted by the European Commission," said Max von Thun, director of the Europe office of the Open Markets Institute, a proponent of stronger antitrust enforcement. But the CMA's flip-flopping makes the U.K. regulator look “weak and indecisive,” he said.“Moving forward, there is now a serious risk that in their dealings with the CMA, merging companies and their advisors will no longer take no for an answer,” von Thun said. ___AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien contributed from Providence, Rhode Island.。高宁摄在沧州，石油化工、煤化工、盐化工作为化工产业“三兄弟”，曾各自为战、独立发展。如今，在沧州绿色化工产业布局中，通过原料互补、副产品资源化，它们变成产业链上紧密合作的“合伙人”。8月16日，沧州临港金诚化工有限责任公司中控室智慧大屏上，年产16万吨离子膜烧碱装置的数据实时跳动。“作为典型的盐化工企业，我们把海盐送入车间电解槽，产出烧碱、氯气和氢气。
B | ”该公司副总经理白海臣说，过去，氢气因不便储存运输，只能当作废气放空，氯气也难以就近消化。面对这一难题，沧州临港经济技术开发区转变思路，围绕金诚化工的副产品进行链式招商，于2022年引进先正新材料公司、科迈新材料公司、晋邦新材料公司三家化工新材料企业，推进当地石油化工产业链向下游延伸。如今，金诚化工的副产品顺着园区的工业管廊找到归宿：纯度99.9%的氢气直送1公里外的科迈新材料公司，用于生产橡胶防老剂，年利用量约1500万标方；氯气供给先正新材料公司，生产环保增塑剂；晋邦新材料公司则同时“吃”进金诚化工的液碱和先正新材料公司的氯化氢，用于生产环氧氯丙烷。四家企业抱团发展，一年节约成本1.82亿元，创造经济效益1.3亿元。在沧州临港经济技术开发区，不仅有盐化工与石油化工的循环，更有煤化工与盐化工、石油化工的循环。作为园区煤化工的源头，正元氢能科技有限公司通过煤气化项目生产液氨、尿素，同时副产大量氢气。该公司的液氨依托园区短距离槽罐车，供给园区内的华茂伟业公司开展精细化工合成；煤化工基础原料服务园区盐化工下游精深加工企业；副产的氢气交由欣国氢能公司提纯处理后，供给建新化工、瀛海香料、华茂伟业等10余家企业，广泛用于石油化工下游企业的精细化工生产和氢能综合利用。“作为国家循环化改造示范试点园区，我们秉持绿色化工发展理念，推动石油化工、煤化工、盐化工融合发展，打造循环经济产业链条，促进资源节约集约循环利用。”沧州临港经济技术开发区循环经济促进中心主任张蕾说，目前，园区内200余家化工企业产业关联度达86%。产业抱团，顶层设计是牵引。近年来，沧州市围绕绿色化工产业，相继出台高质量发展实施方案、重点工作清单等文件，整合临港五大化工园区，实现机制打通、设施联通、规划一张网、产业一张图，加快“大临港”园区耦合发展。同时，加快跨园区公共管廊、储罐区建设，“港口—铁路—管廊”多式联运体系建设。各园区依据功能定位精准招商、错位发展，避免同质竞争。沧州石油化工、煤化工、盐化工企业正在深度融合中实现快速发展。今年上半年，沧州绿色化工产业营业收入达1078.8亿元，占全市规上工业营收的39.9%。（日报记者 戴绍志）。
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