New Zealand Gives Green Light to Microsoft's Acquisition of Activision

The New Zealand Commerce Commission has granted approval for Microsoft's proposed takeover of Activision Blizzard, stating that the merger is unlikely to significantly reduce competition in the New Zealand market. The regulator based its decision on the importance of Activision's games, such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft, to New Zealand gamers, and assessed whether Microsoft would likely prevent rivals like Sony and NVIDIA from offering these games on consoles and cloud platforms. According to Dr. John Small, the commission's chair, 'Although Activision games, particularly Call of Duty, are popular among New Zealand gamers, our investigation found that they are not essential for competing with Microsoft in the New Zealand market.' In response to the ruling, Microsoft President Brad Smith stated, 'With today's approval from New Zealand, we have clearance to proceed with our acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 41 countries. We will continue to address outstanding concerns and work towards finalizing the deal.' A Microsoft spokesperson also expressed appreciation for the New Zealand Commerce Commission's thoughtful consideration and unconditional clearance of the deal, adding that the acquisition will ultimately benefit the gaming industry and gamers. The deadline for the acquisition was recently extended to October 18.