Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard: Chile’s market regulator, the Fiscalia Nacional Economica, has given the go-ahead for Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard. With Microsoft’s announcement to acquire Activision Blizzard at the beginning of 2022 and subsequent legal pushbacks, this highly contentious deal has been one of the biggest gaming stories of 2022.
Microsoft needs the approval of 16 countries to complete the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. These countries will evaluate the deal to determine if it poses an antitrust risk by giving Microsoft an unfair competitive advantage.
Aside from Serbia, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia, no other antitrust bodies have yet announced their decisions on the $69 billion acquisition.
The Fiscalia Nacional Economica (FNE), Chile’s government agency regulating the country’s markets, announced on December 29, 2022, that it had approved Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.
It was stated that although Microsoft is a significant publisher and Activision Blizzard is one of the biggest video game developers, the merger will not threaten the equilibrium of the gaming market or create an unfair situation for Microsoft’s competitors in Chile because of the complementary nature of the two companies businesses.
The FNE surveyed Chilean gamers and analyzed data to determine whether or not to approve Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
FNE (Chile) approves the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft Corporation (No Concessions)
They come to the same conclusion as a CADE (Brazil)https://t.co/lCGhNfl49E pic.twitter.com/rN1uPCopQ8
— Post Up (@PostUp_bbb) December 29, 2022
The company performed two types of research: a horizontal study to determine if the acquisition would limit competition from other developers and a vertical research to determine if Microsoft could restrict other platforms from selling Activision Blizzard games.
According to the FNE’s analysis, the proposed merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard would not upset Chile’s video game market. The group reasoned that Chilean gamers would still have access to other first-person shooters from Electronic Arts, Take Two, Ubisoft, and Epic Games even if Microsoft made Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive.
In addition, a consumer survey conducted by Chile’s market regulatory institution concluded that Chilean players would instead switch games than adopt a new gaming platform, leading the institution to conclude that Call of Duty is not as relevant for the Latin American region as it is in other parts of the world.
One more country approves the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, as Chile deems the deal wouldn’t hurt the local gaming market. https://t.co/hGBL6k0FnX
— Game Rant (@GameRant) December 30, 2022
The FNE concluded that Activision Blizzard’s games were not the most played in Chile and that the acquisition would not cause significant harm to the Chilean gaming community.
Chile followed Serbia, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia in approving Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. A lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission in the United States has prevented Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard
Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console, and cloud will benefit greatly from this purchase, and the company will gain essential components for the development of the metaverse. After the deal is finalized, Microsoft will overtake Nintendo to become the third-largest gaming company in the world in terms of revenue, trailing only Tencent and Sony.
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