Microsoft's Acquisition Of Activision-Blizzard Clears Another Hurdle With Korean Fair Trade Commission Go Ahead
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Another hurdle has been cleared for Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) accepting its conditions. Overseeing antitrust issues for 39 countries, the KFTC notes that while they have approved of it, their decisions come from the lower importance of Activision Blizzard games in those countries.
Owing to it being “a merger between global companies, the KFTC exchanged views with major overseas competition authorities” to reach its final conclusion, the regulator stated in its report. Analyzing the impact of the merger on the domestic market, the KFTC saw no harm in the deal, as “converting competitors’ consumers to [Microsoft’s] service subscribers is minimal due to the low popularity of Blizzard’s games.”
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“The combined market share of games developed and distributed by Microsoft and Blizzard is small, the popularity of Blizzard’s most popular games in Korea is not as high as overseas, and there are a number of popular game developers that competitors can deal with alternatively, so there is no possibility of foreclosure to exclude competing game service companies.”
Nearly 40 global regulators have approved the proposed acquisition, but there is still strong pushback from both the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the US’s Federal Trade Commission. As two major markets for Activision Blizzard games, the two regulators are looking to stop Microsoft from gaining an advantage in both the console and cloud gaming spaces.
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