Acquisition of Microsoft-Activision Approved by the Japan Fair Trade Commission

The JFTC (Japan Fair Trade Commission) reviewed the acquisition of Microsoft Corporation and Activision Blizzard Inc. and concluded that there will be no major competition problems in some areas of the business, so it will not issue a cease-and-desist order. The Japanese antitrust watchdog ruled that the deal "will not substantially restrict competition in a specific field of trade" and subsequently gave the region the green light.

This review and regulatory review by Japan regarding Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard began last summer and has now determined that the deal does not pose a significant risk to competition. Interestingly, the approval came even as Sony dominated the Japanese console gaming market.

The lawsuit now increases the total number of markets in which the deal has been cleared, from four to five countries, following previous approvals from regulators in Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Chile and Serbia.

It is very likely that the EU will also approve the deal, as Microsoft won the backing of Nvidia and Nintendo in February, and the UK CMA said the merger is unlikely to result in the SLC scenario for console gaming that has been outlined. before.

The CMA's final decision will be on May 22, 2023.