Yet another major regulator has ruled in favor of the Xbox, Activision-Blizzard merger
Japan’s FTC comes through for the ABK deal.
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What you need to know
Another potential hurdle has been cleared in the big Xbox, Activision-Blizzard merger.
Microsoft is trying to buy up Activision-Blizzard, known for Warcraft, Candy Crush, and Call of Duty. Despite stiff opposition from Sony PlayStation, increasingly it’s looking likely that the deal will go through, ever since the notoriously difficult UK CMAreduced its scope of concernsthis past week. Now, another important regulator has also spoken up.
Japan represents the world’s second-largest gaming market after the United States by some metrics and has been resurgent in recent years owing to the runaway success of Nintendo, PlayStation, and other publishers like Capcom and From Software. Microsoft has a minuscule market share in the region but hasrecovered some lost groundfrom the disastrous Xbox One era. Recently, Xbox has managed to corner some major Japanese franchises such as Yakuza and Persona, by leveraging Xbox Game Pass.
Microsoft now has another opportunity to grow in Japan potentially, given that Japan’s Fair Trade Commission has essentially ruled in favor of the deal (viaFOSSPatents). Via translation, in thedocumentation, it appears that the regulatory body found that the deal would “would not substantially reduce competition” in Japan.
Japan Fair Trade Commission clears #Microsoft-#ActivisionBlizzard: no risk of substantial lessening of competition in any relevant market.https://t.co/l0ocwqVfaTThis means it’s now 8-0 against #Sony’s CoD #PlayStation foreclosure theory of harm: https://t.co/V4kXukNtRN$ATVIMarch 28, 2023
Interestingly, this past week, U.S. Congress members complained that Japan’s FTC was activelyturning a blind eye to PlayStation’s “potential violations” of antitrust lawsby paying to block out Xbox versions of games in the region. When comparing just PlayStation and Xbox, Microsoft’s console only has a 2% share in the region, despite being active in the market for 20 years. The secrecy around licensing deals makes it hard to actively place blame, but the lack of investment in first-party content during the Xbox One era is undoubtedly a major factor. Microsoft has an opportunity to interest new users viaXbox Cloud Gamingand the more affordableXbox Series S, both of which have reportedly seen some success in Japan and nearby markets.
Microsoft is expected to survive regulatory concerns in the European Union and in the UK, as well as China. The deal potentially still faces some challenges in the United States, with theFTC still opposed to the deal. It has, however, avoided filing proceedings in federal court systems, which could be seen as a sign that it would expect to lose a broader lawsuit.
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Jez Corden is the Executive Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow onTwitter (X)andThreads, and listen to hisXB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!
