Good news for Microsoft regarding its plans to buy Activision Blizzard, and with the added value that they come, precisely, from the cradle of its main rival in this process, Sony. And besides, it comes at a particularly sensitive moment in relation to the situation of Sony in its native country… come on, if this purchase operation were a soap opera, without a doubt we would find ourselves facing one of the most interesting episodes of it.
The best, at this point, It will be to recapitulate what happened between yesterday and today, as it can make a significant difference in the operation that began in early 2022 and which, mainly due to pressure from Sony, is taking much longer than originally planned. Just yesterday we told you that eleven members of the United States Congress have openly accused Sony of unfair competition in Japan with PlayStation.
The accusation, as we told you in that article, is very serious, and not only calls into question Sony’s way of acting, it also points to the Japanese government for its inaction against unfair practices carried out by Japanese technology companies. And not by a small margin, if you did not read that news I recommend that you do it now, you will be able to verify that the figures used by American politicians are scandalous and, if proven beyond all reasonable doubt, they leave Sony and the Japanese administration in a very bad place.
Well, just 24 hours after the accusation was made public, Japan’s competition regulator has approved Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. The Japan Fair Trade Commission has published a press release stating the following:
«The Japan Fair Trade Commission (hereinafter “JFTC”) reviewed the transaction and concluded that the transaction is unlikely to result in a material restriction of competition in any particular business field. Accordingly, the JFTC has notified the Parties that the JFTC will not issue a cease and desist order, which will result in the completion of its review.»
This way, The Japanese regulator concludes its investigation in this regard (in this case the approval is final, not provisional like that of the CMA), and gives the green light in terms of its jurisdiction so that Microsoft can buy Activision Blizzard. And as I say, it is especially interesting that this decision has come just as US politicians have pointed out the particularly adverse conditions that Microsoft has to face in Japan when it comes to the gaming market.
Be that as it may, a new green traffic light comes on on a road that seems increasingly passable. Let’s remember that just a few days ago the British CMA gave its approval to the purchase. It is conditioned to the advances in the investigation, but it represents an important step, since it was one of the regulators that at first seemed little predisposed to allow the purchase. On the other hand, Europe aims to be in favor of the purchase, and China gave the go-ahead on March 15 and, although they have not pronounced definitively, the main Latin American regulators also point in the direction in which Japan has opted.
