Fair Trade Commission Receives MS-Activision Blizzard Merger Notification

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 14th that it received a merger notification from Microsoft on the 4th regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard shares.

Accordingly, as the merger will result in horizontal integration in the game development and distribution market, and vertical integration between the game development and distribution market and the game distribution market, the Fair Trade Commission plans to thoroughly review the merger in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act and related laws.

The review period for the merger is 30 days from the date of notification, and can be extended up to 90 days if necessary.

Microsoft is a U.S. technology company engaged in Windows operating systems, office products, cloud services, as well as game console sales, game development, distribution, and distribution businesses.

Activision Blizzard is a U.S. game developer that develops and distributes computer, console, and mobile games such as Diablo, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Candy Crush Saga.