Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal approved by Brazilian regulator
$68.7 million acquisition approved "with no restrictions"
Regulators in Brazil are the latest to approve Microsoft's proposed mammoth acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE), announced yesterday that it had agreed to the merger "with no restrictions."
"Considering the huge popularity of Call of Duty, it is reasonable to infer that if Activision Blizzard games were no longer available on Sony consoles, PlayStation users could decide to migrate to Xbox, or even a PC, to continue having access to franchise games," CADE said in a document detailing the decision.
"On the other hand, it’s also reasonable to assume that if upcoming Call of Duty games became exclusive to the Microsoft ecosystem, players loyal to the PlayStation brand could simply abandon the series, migrating their demand to other games available on their favourite console."
Brazil's ruling follows a decision from Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Competition, which said in August that it had "no objection" to the deal.
While not the largest market, Brazil's investigation became prevalent as it unveiled comments made by both Sony and Microsoft regarding potential exclusivity.
The former expressed concerns about Call of Duty potentially being removed from PlayStation, and how that may "influence users' choice of console." Microsoft responded to the comments, and said making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox "would simply not be profitable" for the firm.
The acquisition is still under scrutiny in the US, UK and European markets; the UK's Competition and Markets Authority and the US' Federal Trade Commission recently entered the second phases of their own investigations.
The CMA expects to issue provisional findings in January, with a final report due by March 1. However, the FTC could make a decision by "late November," according to Seeking Alpha.