Things have been going Microsoft's way in recent weeks. The UK CMA recently released an updated provisional finding that concludes there is no significant reduction in competition should Microsoft withhold Call of Duty from other consoles. Now, the company's cause has made headway in the east as well.
The Japanese Fair Trade Commission recently released a statement saying that it has "reviewed the transaction and reached the conclusion that [it] is unlikely to result in substantially restraining competition in any particular fields of trade."
The statement adds, "Accordingly, the JFTC has notified the Parties that the JFTC will not issue a cease and desist order, resulting in the completion of its review." This essentially means that Microsoft will have no obstacles from Japanese authorities.
The JFTC stated that the deal did not violate its anti-competition legislature. According to the competition regulator, "the integration falls under the safe harbor criteria for vertical business combinations."
The competition regulator concludes that the merger would not result in a shortage of supply on rival platforms. "There are competing businesses, and games are distributed in digital format, so it is unlikely that there will be a shortage of supply capacity," the JFTC notes.
