South Korea is the latest country to approve Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
According to VGC, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it had approved Microsoft’s $69 billion deal, and said it was not concerned about its ability to compete if its games were restricted. Blizzard is owned by the Redmond giant.
KFTC explained that considering Korea alone, the popularity of Activision Blizzard games is quite low and therefore they are too insignificant in the country
The agency also indicated that it has held discussions with competition authorities in several other countries to get their views on the deal, but Korea also said that its decisions are subject to change. may vary because Activision Blizzard games in those regions also have different levels of importance.
The deal has now received approval from nearly 40 global regulators – earlier this month the European Commission and China’s competition regulator both approved the deal, which will see early Microsoft acquired ownership of popular game franchises such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
However, the UK and US continue to be major roadblocks for Microsoft. In April, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was blocking the sale due to concerns about its impact on the nascent cloud gaming market. Microsoft formally filed an appeal against the CMA’s decision last week.
The US Federal Trade Commission also sued Microsoft in an attempt to block the acquisition due to concerns about exclusivity