There is plenty of online chatter regarding the latest Microsoft bid. The company made some massive headlines when it came to acquiring Activision Blizzard. This received a ton of pushback from Sony, and since then, it’s been a battle from Microsoft to ensure that they can acquire this company. For a staggering $68 billion, it’s not a drop-in-the-bucket kind of money we’re dealing with here. So it’s likely Microsoft is looking to ensure that this deal goes through without having too many conditions attached. While we’re still waiting for some heavy-hitting regulators to approve the deal, like the CMA, we can add another regulator to the list that has given Microsoft the green light.
Thanks to a tweet from industry insider Tom Warren, we learned that South Africa’s competition commission had released a media statement. It looks like this regulator has decided to approve Microsoft’s bid to acquire the company. Of course, that doesn’t mean this deal will go through just yet, as we’re still waiting on approval from some of the other regulators to get added into the mix. But this is just another step in the right direction for Microsoft, and best of all, this approval comes without any conditions attached.
That helps add to the markets that have already approved the deal. As Tom Warren mentions in his tweet, those include Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Chile, Serbia, and Japan. But again, we’ll have to wait for some of the other regulators to chime in and decide whether this deal can go through. One of the big regulators that have been in the headlines lately is the CMA which has been taking a close look into this acquisition and considering both Microsoft’s and Sony’s views on the matter.
Regardless, we should hear from the CMA this month on their decision. Furthermore, Microsoft has strongly stated that this deal wouldn’t take the franchise behemoth, Call of Duty, away from any platforms. Instead, consumers would receive the same game across all platforms without the special exclusive incentives to play the game on any platform. In fact, to ensure that Microsoft keeps its word on not making Call of Duty an exclusive, they have drafted up several contract deals. These contracts would legally bind Microsoft to bring Call of Duty games to competitive platforms for at least ten years.
