As theXboxdeal to buy Activision Blizzard is slowly proceeding in jurisdictions around the world, yet another country has approved the transaction which is another step toward its completion.Xboxbegan the process to acquire Activision Blizzard as it did ZeniMax Media a lot sooner, but the former isn’t proceeding as smoothly as the latter due to the properties under its umbrella.
ZeniMax Media was acquired by Xbox back in 2021, but the Microsoft gaming brand continued to look for other developers to purchase as it had on a prior spree with Double Fine, Playground Games,and Ninja Theory. Xbox intended to expand this string of acquisitions with a massive Activision Blizzard offer of $68.7 billion, but some courts from around the world have investigated the deal to ensure the legality of it in countries that may have different corporate competition laws than the US. The current countries that have approved the transaction so far include Japan, Chile, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia, but another one has been added to the list.
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The South African Competition Commission has approved Xbox’s offer for Activision Blizzard without adding any conditions to the acquisition as it complies with the country’s distribution and competition laws. According to the aforementioned commission, the purchase also shows signs that Xbox will continue to provideCall of Dutyon other consoles like PlayStation, one of the primary concerns about the transaction. Microsoft has previously laid out a 10-year plan to continue releasingCall of Dutytitles on PlayStation hardware, and efforts are being made toexpand the series to Nintendo Switchwhich has dispelled potential legal troubles in some cases.
Confirming some suspicions that gamers have had as more countries are approving the Activision Blizzard acquisition, South Africa confirmed that its primary concern about the transaction wasCall of Dutyand its future availability on PlayStation. While the 10-year plan illustrated forupcomingCall of Dutytitles under the Xbox namehas resolved the issue with the deal in South Africa, the remaining authorities may still have problems with other legalities. Wrapping things up with its reasoning, the South African Competition Commission also stated that it likely won’t “result in significant foreclosure concerns.”
Although the Xbox and Activision Blizzard deal has been confirmed in South Africa and several other countries, the US FTC,European Commission, and UK Competition and Markets Authority continue to question it. Once Microsoft is able to overcome these final few hurdles, the purchase should be able to proceed and the Activision Blizzard library of developers will fall under the Xbox Games Studios banner.
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