Xbox started 2022 with a bang by announcing plans to acquire Activision Blizzard. As you read this, authorities around the world continue to mull over whether the huge deal should go through. That process has now come to an end in Brazil as the nation has ruled the merger should go ahead as planned and has no objections to Xbox moving forward.
Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) has confirmed its decision, detailing exactly why it doesn't believe the acquisition will damage the video game industry (via VGC). Its explanation addresses PlayStation's fear that Call of Duty will become an Xbox exclusive, and how much it believes the deal will positively affect the latter's console sales.
“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,” CADE explains. “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.”
As it summarizes its decision, CADE explains that since Nintendo doesn't rely on Activision Blizzard content to succeed in the video game market, and PlayStation has been an industry leader for more than 20 years, it sees no reason why the acquisition can't move forward. As has been the case throughout this process, CADE has been very transparent about its decisions. It was actually a questionnaire it issued to major players in the industry that revealed just how concerned PlayStation is about losing Call of Duty.
CADE is the second governing body to approve the deal after Saudi Arabia became the first in August. The FTC is expected to deliver its decision next month, while the UK's watchdog might not reveal its verdict until March 2023. Investigations into Activision Blizzard's work culture are also ongoing, something Xbox made reference to improving should the merger happen via a new webpage detailing how it believes the deal can benefit everyone.