Saudi Arabia voices "no objection" to Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition
Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been under review by global regulatory agencies around the globe, and now one of those agencies has voiced its intent to let the acquisition proceed. That agency is Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Competition.
The announcement from the GAC was spotted by Twitter user Klobrille. A translated version of the announcement states that the agency "declares that it has no objection to completing the process of economic concentration between Microsoft Corporation [and] Activision Blizzard, Inc."
The GAC did not provide any other details on what elements of the merger it chose to review.
Microsoft's courtship of global regulatory agencies has become the subject of scrutiny after Sony chose to voice objections to the merger through Brazil's regulatory process. In that process, the PlayStation platform-owner stated that Microsoft's ownership of Call of Duty would give it "an unfair advantage" in the video game market.
تعلن #الهيئة_العامة_للمنافسة عن عدم ممانعتها من إتمام عملية التركز الاقتصادي بين:-مايكروسوفت كوربوريشن-أكتيفيجن بليزارد إنك pic.twitter.com/lo5scC3F7k
Microsoft would later rebuff those claims, partly by arguing that Sony already enjoyed market dominance during the PlayStation 4/Xbox One console generation.
Brazil and Saudi Arabia are both burgeoning markets in the video game industry, but for different reasons. Brazil's increased smartphone adoption has made it a growing market for game developers. Saudi Arabia (and in particular, the Saudi Arabian government) has become a new source of venture capital for companies like SNK, Embracer Group, Nintendo, and beyond.
The Saudi Arabian government has made many these investments through its Public Investment
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