Saudi Arabia was the first country to approve Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The deal was announced in January by US$ 68.7 billion (~R$ 371 billion)the largest in the technology industry to date.
The General Authority for Competition revealed last Sunday (21) that it has no objections to Microsoft finalizing its purchase.
As a big deal, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard needs approval from regulators around the world, based on competition law. In documents released, Saudi Arabia’s regulatory body General Authority for Competition approved the deal.
تعلن #الهيئة_العامة_للمنافسة عن عدم ممانعتها من إتمام عملية التركز الاقتصادي بين:
-مايكروسوفت كوربوريشن
-أكتيفيجن بليزارد إنك pic.twitter.com/lo5scC3F7k— الهيئة العامة للمنافسة (@SaudiGAC) August 21, 2022
In the US, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to issue its opinion soon, while the UK Competition and Markets Authority has launched an antitrust investigation of the acquisition and will respond by September 1.
In Europe, it is CADE (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) that evaluates the business. The documents were made publicly available and revealed several frictions between Microsoft and Sony, its biggest rival in the games industry.
The Japanese company reportedly said that if Call of Duty became an Xbox exclusive, its popularity would make players switch from their PlayStation to one from Microsoft. According to Sony, there is a loyal user base and there is no way to produce a competitor for the franchise.
As we extend the joy and community of gaming to everyone, we are incredibly excited to welcome the fantastic teams and iconic franchises of Activision Blizzard to Team Xbox https://t.co/DVrgYS8ssB
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 18, 2022
Microsoft countered the information saying that several other companies agreed to the deal, such as Ubisoft and Bandai Namco, with Sony being the only company to say that Call of Duty would be above the genre and face no competition.
She ends by saying that Sony doesn’t want to see the franchise on Xbox Game Pass because it doesn’t want to compete with the service. Previously, the Japanese company had said it expected Microsoft to honor contractual agreements for Call of Duty to continue cross-platform.
