To Brazil, Chile, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Serbia, South Africa’s turn to approve Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision/Blizzard. The key point that seems to tie all these markets together from a competitive perspective is always the case call from Duty. The fear of seeing this video game juggernaut in the hands of the American group deters the competition, with the power to make it exclusive to Xbox. And more specifically Sony. While Microsoft is trying to reassure the markets by making deals in all directions, including with Nintendo to try and prove otherwise.
The Commission (south african) finds the proposal unlikely to raise foreclosure concerns. The parties have neither the ability nor the inclination to offend Sony or Nintendo. In addition, the merged entities have taken steps to continue deployment call of Duty to other companies.
In other words, the conclusions put forward are similar in South Africa to the other countries that have looked into the case. Let’s hope the remaining ones follow the same path!
