There is plenty of online chatter about Microsoft’s acquisition bid for Activision Blizzard. The deal came with a massive $69 billion offer, but the move to purchase this company has been anything but smooth for Microsoft. Mainly the focus has been on one particular IP that would come with this purchase. That being Call of Duty. Since the acquisition was made, regulators have been looking into this purchase to see if there were any potential that this could harm competition within the industry. Now it looks like the folks who handle this regulation in Japan have given Microsoft the go-ahead on the purchase.
Thanks to a report from IGN, we’re finding that Japan’s Fair Trade Commission has finally finished reviewing the transaction offer and has decided that this move wouldn’t hurt the competition against the likes of Sony. Sony is of which one of the major parties involved that has been vocal against this deal. Since the acquisition offer was made, Sony has continued to highlight areas in which they feel Microsoft would hurt sales against its competitors. However, one component that might have worked in Microsoft’s favor was the different contract deals they have written up over the past several months.
If you don’t recall, Microsoft has written up legally binding contract deals that would force the company to produce Call of Duty on competitive platforms. So while Microsoft would own the IP, it wouldn’t be a franchise that would be refrained from arriving on the likes of Sony and even Nintendo platforms. Furthermore, this contract deal would last ten years as well, providing Call of Duty games on the current-generation console platforms and the next console iteration that launches into the marketplace. Likewise, that should provide more than enough time in Microsoft’s eyes to allow Sony to create an alternative exclusive for Call of Duty.
Of course, while Japan regulators are not looking to stop this deal from going through, other regulators are looking into the matter. Included is the CMA, which has recently been a bit comfortable with the idea of Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard. But for now, we’ll just have to wait and see what the other regulators decide on and what the future of Activision Blizzard holds. Most importantly, it will be interesting to see if Call of Duty will soon have a new competitor from Sony if this deal goes through.
