Japan's Competition Regulator Approves Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Buyout

[T0@st]

Japan's competition regulator, Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), yesterday issued a press release in which it announces an approval of Microsoft's proposed $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard. The JFTC's review has concluded and their members have: "reached the conclusion that the transaction is unlikely to result in substantially restraining competition in any particular fields of trade." This represents another regional victory for Microsoft, and follows last week's approval of the deal by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The JFTC has informed both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard that a cease and desist order will be not be issued, thus completing its investigation.

The timing of this new development is raising eyebrows - in last week's Senate Finance Committee, several US Members of Congress raised concerns about Sony's "monopoly" over the Japanese gaming market. The Japanese government was also accused of being complicit in its inaction and has: "allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers." Games industry watchdogs have questioned why another rival console and games company, Nintendo, was not brought up as subject matter in the debate. Microsoft has dedicated considerable resources into getting its proposed deal approved by international antitrust watchdogs, and has even offered to expand the Activision Blizzard games library onto Nintendo hardware platforms.



Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard was approved by regulatory bodies in Brazil and Saudi Arabia in 2022. The UK's CMA delivered a provisional thumbs up last week, and announced further investigations into possible disruptions of competition within the cloud gaming service sector. The UK antitrust watchdog's stance appears to have shifted since February - when it declared that the proposed acquisition had the potential to "harm U.K. gamers".



Microsoft's next set of challenges will transpire with the European Union and USA - the latter's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Microsoft in December 2022, in order to block the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The European Commission has delayed its provisional deadline to rule on the deal from April 25 to May 22, following Microsoft's offering of extra incentives - details of which are redacted from public view.

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[john_]

So, US congress members threaten to investigate SONY and the next day Japan approves Microsoft Activision deal.

That's probably a coincidence.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Wow! The choice of picture to illustrate Japan in the post makes me want to touch grass and visit Mt. Fuji instead of playing video games. That's what I call effective marketing! In all seriousness, what a beautiful place. Just wow.

 

[Shihab]

"Et tu, Brute-san?"
-Sony.

 

[Chrispy_]

Yay, I guess.

Microsoft can't exactly make Activision any worse; As publishers go, Activision have an absolutely record-setting list of transgressions against minorities, women, consumers, their own employees, subcontractors of their own studios, and have also run into legal spats with regulatory bodies across the world on numerous occasions gambling violations, ethical concerns, and financial exploitation of minors.

Short of promoting a reanimated cyber-Hitler to CEO, just about anything Microsoft do will be an improvement.

 

[evernessince]

Yay, I guess.

Microsoft can't exactly make Activision any worse; As publishers go, Activision have an absolutely record-setting list of transgressions against minorities, women, consumers, their own employees, subcontractors of their own studios, and have also run into legal spats with regulatory bodies across the world on numerous occasions gambling violations, ethical concerns, and financial exploitation of minors.

Short of promoting a reanimated cyber-Hitler to CEO, just about anything Microsoft do will be an improvement.

It would be hard for a gaming company to do worse but you never know. If they want to get into the big boys club they are going to have to beat DuPont, who ran cover for the lead poisoning of a generation and put forver chemicals in 99.7% of all humans currently on earth. Companies have the capability to commit acts beyond imagination seeking profits.

 

[watzupken]

What a dramatic turn of events. Just not that long ago, every regulator is strongly objecting to the acquisition.

Having said that, the supposed anti competitive argument is moot. Sony made the most noise about this, yet their practice clearly contradicts their claim. Every console or even product maker will try ways to differentiate their product somehow, and for consoles the way to do it is through exclusive game titles. That's what we observe with Nintendo as well, and the reason why Sony PS5 sells like hot cakes compared to Xbox.

 

[KrazyT]

The 2 buildings on the photo looks like 2 tower case with 2 USB ports at the top

 

[R0H1T]

It ain't blue, red, yellow or cyan ~ it's always Green, the color of life these days