Japanese watchdog: Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision will not harm competition

Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Activision Blizzard will not have major adverse effects on competition and therefore does not need to be blocked, the Japanese market regulator said. This JFTC investigated cloud gaming and the range of games available.

The acquisition is ‘unlikely to result in a significant restriction of competition’, according to the Japan Fair Trade Commission. In the investigation the JFTC looked at, among other things to what extent Microsoft could refuse to supply games to consoles and streaming services, and what consequences this would have.

The JFTC saw no legal obstacles when offering games to consoles. There are also plenty of competing cloud service providers for cloud gaming and games are delivered digitally. Therefore, according to the JFTC, the acquisition will not have major consequences for competition. The regulator therefore stops its investigation into the takeover and says it will not stop it.

American, British and European regulators are still investigating the takeover. The British Competition and Markets Authority said last week that it is less concerned about competition in the console market, but is still concerned about cloud gaming. The European Commission will make a decision by May 22 and the American FTC has started a lawsuit to stop the takeover.