China’s market authority has unconditionally approved Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.
China is the latest country to approve Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. According to a report by Dealreporter, the PRC State Administration for Market Regulation has given unconditional approval, as reported by SeekingAlpha.
We don’t know much of the details of their decision, but although it hasn’t been arbiter like Microsoft’s tussle with the FTC in the United States, the CMA in the United Kingdom, or the European Commission, China hasn’t made it easy for them either. Was.
Finally, the review of Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard, which would pay $69 billion, has reached Stage 3, but has finally been approved without conditions.
China approves Microsoft’s purchase of Activision as drama with Blizzard and Tencent continues
Despite its particularity, the Chinese market is one of the most important in the world. The Xbox Series X is present in China thanks to a deal with Tencent.
Not so with Blizzard games: games such as World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft or Heroes of the Storm shut down their servers in China in January 2023, following a disagreement between Blizzard and NetEase.
Unafraid of this drama, the Chinese regulatory authority for market competition will not oppose Microsoft completing its purchase of Activision Blizzard. Nor will they be opposed by the European Union, as we learned this week.
However, the CMA in the UK isn’t giving in, as is the FTC in the US, which could jeopardize the entire deal, which Microsoft hopes to fight in court.
