LogInThe South African antitrust authority has rejected Sony's claim that the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal would significantly undermine competition.
On April 17, South Africa's Competition Commission (CCSA) released a report announcing its approval of the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal. The approval from South Africa now makes it the sixth country to have given the green light to Microsoft's acquisition, following the recent approvals from Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Serbia, Chile, and Japan.
The CCSA report recognized Sony's main concern in opposing the merger, which is the possibility of Microsoft making Call of Duty exclusive to its platforms and excluding PlayStation. Nevertheless, the commission determined that these concerns are unwarranted.
According to the regulator, the proposed transaction is not expected to lead to any significant concerns about the foreclosure of Microsoft's competitors.
"The Commission found that the proposed transaction is unlikely to result in significant foreclosure concerns as the parties do not have the ability and incentive to foreclose competing game distributors, particularly Sony (PlayStation) and Nintendo (Switch)," the CCSA wrote. "Furthermore, the merging parties have made undertakings to continue supplying Call of Duty games to other console manufacturers."
Although the CCSA's approval is a positive development for Microsoft in its pursuit to acquire one of the world's largest game publishers, it is only a minor victory. The tech giant is still awaiting decisions from major regulatory bodies such as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the European Commission, and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
In March 2023, the CMA provisionally determined that the deal with Activision Blizzard would not significantly reduce competition. The regulator is expected to make its final decision by May 22.
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