Brazil approves Activision Blizzard deal, says its job isn't to protect "specific competitors"
A Brazilian governmental regulator is the next to approve Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard, soundly rejecting arguments from Sony that the deal is anti-competitive.
Back in August, Saudi Arabia became the first governmental body to approve Microsoft's Activision Blizzard buyout, and now Brazil is following suit. In a lengthy filing (opens in new tab) published to the website for Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), the regulator revealed that it had approved the merger free of restrictions. In doing so, it acknowledges the possibility that Microsoft owning Activision Blizzard could have a negative impact on PlayStation's business, particularly if Microsoft decides to make big series like Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox, bug it makes several arguments about why that shouldn't keep the deal from going through.
In its conclusion (machine-translated), CADE argues that "despite Microsoft having control of a relevant portion of the console and digital game distribution markets, the company would not have incentives to make it difficult for publishers competing with Activision Blizzard to access its platforms, as this would necessarily imply a reduction in quantity and variety of the catalog of games available in the Xbox ecosystem, making the company's products and services less attractive to consumers."
Citing Call of Duty specifically, CADE then argues that Activision Blizzard games aren't necessary to the success of Xbox's competitors. This echoes a defense Microsoft itself made in August.
"Despite their relevance and popularity, Activision Blizzard games – and in particular the Call of Duty series– would not be essential assets to the performance of Microsoft's current and potential
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