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The regulator believes that should the deal be closed, it won't significantly hurt competition in the market.
Chilean regulator Fiscalía Nacional Económica (the National Economic Prosecutor's Office) has approved Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The FNE issued a statement where it ruled that the deal will not "substantially reduce competition" – the conclusion that the regulator made based on market analysis, preferences of the Chilean consumers, and other evidence it received. The FNE believes that if the acquisition is complete, it will not significantly hurt competition in the market.
It also ruled out the possibility of removing the Call of Duty series from different platforms as, according to the regulator, Activision Blizzard faces significant competitive pressure from other major publishers such as EA, Ubisoft, Take-Two, Sony, and Nintendo.
In addition, the FNE pointed out that the relevance of Call of Duty in Latin America is "comparatively less than in other regions of the world."
The regulator also believes that the merger will not substantially impact user console choice – something that Sony expressed its concerns about – saying that even if Call of Duty becomes an Xbox exclusive, just a low share of users will change their console in order to access the shooter series.
It also added that the revenue Activision generates from sales of PlayStation versions of Call of Duty would discourage Microsoft and Activision from removing the game series from Sony's console.
Microsoft's Activision deal has already been approved in several countries including Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Serbia. However, it is still being scrutinized by European regulators including the European Commission and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority as well as the US Federal Trade Commission.
While the CMA and the European Commission continue their phase 2 investigations, the FTC recently filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in an attempt to block it from acquiring Activision Blizzard. The trial is set to take place in August 2023 and the first pre-trial hearing, according to Reuters, was to be held on January 3.
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