LONDON, May 30 Reuters Microsoft on Tuesday accused Britain39;s antitrust regulator of being a global outlier in blocking its 69 billion takeover of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.

The Competition and Markets Authority CMA vetoed the deal in April, saying it could hurt competition in the nascent cloud gaming market, sparking a furious row.

The company is asking for an appeal, in which Activision wants to intervene, to be heard in July. Lawyers representing the CMA said in court filings that Microsoft39;s appeal should be heard in September at the earliest.

Microsoft39;s lawyer Daniel Beard told the CAT on Tuesday If this process does not move forward quickly, it jeopardises this merger being completed.

Microsoft is appealing against the ruling at the Competition Appeal Tribunal CAT in London, arguing that the CMA was wrong to conclude the deal would lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the United Kingdom39;s cloud gaming market.

He said that 10 regulators including the European Union39;s competition authority, which gave the deal the goahead earlier this month have already approved the merger.

The CMA is the outlier here in its position, Beard said. It creates the uncertainty that risks derailing this deal and it is for that reason that speed is of the essence.

He added It is only here that we have this uncertainty in terms of there being a decision which we say is fundamentally wrong and purports to stop this merger worldwide in relation…