Microsoft's Acquisition of Activision Blizzard Wouldn’t Substantially Harm Competition, Japan's FTC Says

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been given the green light by Japan's Fair Trade Commission, which concluded that the acquisition would not significantly harm competition in the market.

According to Reuters, the regulator has informed the companies that it will not be issuing a cease and desist order and has concluded its review on the matter.

This is a notable achievement in Microsoft's efforts to purchase the Call of Duty maker, particularly in light of the fact that the primary opposition to the completion of the deal came from Sony, a Japanese corporation. Previously, Sony persistently claimed that Microsoft's exclusivity of Call of Duty would result in significant issues for both PlayStation and the gaming community as a whole.

The news of Japan's regulator's approval comes shortly after the CMA released its updated provisional report claiming that the merger "will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to console gaming." The UK's watchdog, however, stated that it is still examining the effect of the deal on the cloud gaming market.

The final decisions of both the CMA and the European Commission are still pending, and they are anticipated to be made available before the end of April. Additionally, there is an ongoing investigation at the Federal Trade Commission, which filed a lawsuit last year to prevent the completion of the deal.

You can find the report from Japan's FTC here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.