Microsoft says it “really tried” to take the concerns of U.K. regulators to heart, before launching its fresh bid to take over Activision Blizzard — and it’s now up to the regulators to decide whether that path is clear.

“I think we need to let the regulators speak for themselves,” Microsoft’s vice-chairman and president Brad Smith told CNBC in an exclusive interview. “They have decisions that need to be made, especially in the U.K., but from my vantage point, what we’ve really tried to do is take these concerns to heart.”

Last Tuesday, Microsoft submitted a new proposal to U.K. regulators for the takeover of American game publisher Activision Blizzard after its initial proposal was rejected.

Microsoft and Activision have agreed to a new, restructured agreement, which the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority will now investigate with a decision deadline of Oct. 18.

On regulatory concerns, Smith said: “We haven’t tried to dismiss them. We haven’t tried to downplay them. We haven’t tried to ignore them.”

“We’ve worked to address them, and by addressing them, we have put together a transaction that will advance competition, while also eliminating the concerns on the anti-competitive side that some people had,” he told CNBC’s Martin Soong on the sidelines of the Business 20 Summit in New Delhi.

“I think it will be up to the regulators, especially now in the U.K., to decide whether that path is clear,” he said in an interview aired Monday.

U.K. regulators, the Competition and Markets Authority, said that under the new deal, Microsoft will not acquire cloud rights for existing Activision PC and console games, or for new games released by Activision for the next 15 years.

Instead, French gaming publisher Ubisoft will acquire those rights before Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the CMA added.

“That to me, is not just a recipe for this transaction,” said Smith.

“I think that in the world of technology, whether we’re talking about software or hardware or pharmaceuticals, there are times when companies can come together in advance innovation, produce better products, and there may be steps that need to be taken at the same time to address regulatory concerns.”

Microsoft on Tuesday submitted a new deal to U.K. regulators for the takeover of Activision Blizzard after the rejection of its initial proposal.

The U.S. technology giant first put forward the $69 billion acquisition of Activision in January 2022 but has since faced regulatory challenges in the U.S., Europe and U.K.

On Tuesday, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority confirmed it has blocked the original deal. However, it said both Microsoft and Activision have agreed to a new, restructured agreement, which the CMA will now investigate with a decision deadline of Oct. 18.

The Redmond tech giant anticipates the review can be completed before this time, Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a Tuesday statement.

Under the restructured deal, Microsoft will not acquire cloud rights for existing Activision PC and console games, or for new games released by Activision during the next 15 years, the CMA said.

Instead, these rights will be divested to French game publisher Ubisoft Entertainment prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the CMA added.

The CMA has been the toughest critic of the takeover, citing concerns that the deal would hamper competition in the nascent cloud gaming market.

Cloud gaming is seen as the next frontier in the industry, offering subscription services that allow people to stream games just as they would movies or shows on Netflix. It could even remove the need for expensive consoles, with users playing the games on PCs, mobile and TVs instead.

Regulators previously argued that Microsoft could also take key Activision games like Call of Duty, and make them exclusive to Xbox and other Microsoft platforms.

Authorities in the European Union were the first major regulator to clear the deal back in May. To cross that line, Microsoft offered concessions, such as offering royalty-free licenses to cloud gaming platforms to stream Activision games, if a consumer has purchased them.

The CMA refused similar measures at the time, which it felt would allow Microsoft to “set the terms and conditions for this market for the next ten years.”

In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission was fighting a legal battle with Microsoft in an effort to get the Activision takeover scrapped. In July, however, a judge blocked the FTC’s attempt to do so, clearing the way for the deal to go ahead in the U.S.

Just hours later, the CMA said it was “ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction” and allay the regulator’s concerns.

The restructured deal and cloud rights divestment to Ubisoft are intended to provide an independent third-party content supplier with the ability to supply Activision’s gaming content to all cloud gaming service providers, including to Microsoft itself.

Ubisoft will be able to license out Activision content under different business models, including subscription services.

The deal would also require Microsoft to provide versions of games on operating systems other than Windows, which it owns.

“Microsoft has notified a new and restructured deal, which is substantially different from what was put on the table previously,” Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA, said in a statement.

“As part of this new deal, Activision’s cloud streaming rights outside of the EEA (European Economic Area) will be sold to a rival, Ubisoft, who will be able to license out Activision’s content to any cloud gaming provider. This will allow gamers to access Activision’s games in different ways, including through cloud-based multigame subscription services.”

Cardell emphasised this is not a signal of an approval for the deal.

“This is not a green light. We will carefully and objectively assess the details of the restructured deal and its impact on competition, including in light of third-party comments.”

For its part, Microsoft will be compensated for its divestment to Ubisoft “through a one-off payment and through a market-based wholesale pricing mechanism, including an option that supports pricing based on usage. It will also give Ubisoft the opportunity to offer Activision Blizzard’s games to cloud gaming services running non-Windows operating systems,” Smith said Tuesday.

“We’re dedicated to delivering amazing experiences to our players wherever they choose to play,” Chris Early, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development at Ubisoft, said on Tuesday. “Today’s deal will give players even more opportunities to access and enjoy some of the biggest brands in gaming.”

In a victory for Microsoft, the U.S. Appeals Court for the 9th Circuit late on Friday denied the Federal Trade Commission’s motion to temporarily stop Microsoft from closing its $68.7 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft is still working to resolve concerns about the transaction from the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority. The two companies have been looking to close the deal by July 18.

“We appreciate the Ninth Circuit’s swift response denying the FTC’s motion to further delay the deal. This brings us another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and vice chair, said in a statement

A federal judge in San Francisco, after five days of court hearings, ruled against the FTC on Tuesday, and the federal agency filed its appeal on Wednesday.

The FTC first sued to block the acquisition last December, then filed for an emergency injunction to block the completion of the deal before it could have an agency administrative law judge take it up. The FTC has argued that the transaction was anti-competitive because Microsoft might make some of its games exclusive to its own Xbox game consoles or diminish the experience of Activision games such as the popular Call of Duty titles on rival services should the deal close. Microsoft has said it would instead make the games more widely available.

In an emergency motion filed with the 9th Circuit on Thursday, the FTC said the district judge “denied preliminary relief, applying the wrong legal standard: the court effectively required the FTC to prove its full case on the merits with the court as arbiter of the merger’s legality.” The agency requested a temporary injunction while the court considered an appeal of the district court’s conclusion.

Under the leadership of Lina Khan, the FTC has lost other battles with technology companies, including its effort to stop Meta Platforms from buying virtual reality fitness app startup Within.

The FTC declined to comment.

The U.K.’s competition watchdog on Wednesday opened an investigation into Microsoft’s planned acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard.

It marks one of the first probes by a major antitrust enforcer into the $68.7 billion deal, which was announced in January.

In a statement, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority said its investigation would “consider whether the deal could harm competition and lead to worse outcomes for consumers – for example, through higher prices, lower quality, or reduced choice.”

The CMA has set a Sept. 1 deadline for its initial decision. The regulator said it wants feedback from interest third parties, with a consultation running until July 20.

Microsoft was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

The planned acquisition has huge implications for the $190 billion video game industry, handing control of incredibly lucrative franchises including Call of Duty, Candy Crush and Warcraft to one of the world’s biggest tech companies.

Microsoft hopes the purchase will help it in the race to build the so-called metaverse, a hypothetical network of large virtual worlds. Various other companies are vying for a role in the space, including Facebook parent company Meta and Sony.

However, analysts are skeptical about the chances of a deal being approved by regulators.

Microsoft is one of the largest games console manufacturers alongside Sony and Nintendo, and the company is sitting on a growing hoard of first-party content — including popular game series like The Elder Scrolls and Doom, which it acquired after buying Bethesda-owner Zenimax for $7.5 billion.

Meanwhile, Activision has been beset by numerous internal issues in the past year, including accusations of sexual harassment, unionization efforts and walkouts from staff.

Employees at the company are deeply unhappy with the management and have called on CEO Bobby Kotick to resign. Microsoft previously said Kotick will stay on as CEO of Activision until after the deal closes.