“Tencent is currently in the process of becoming Techland’s majority shareholder,” Techland founder Pawel Marchewka said in a message. “Teaming up with Tencent will allow us to move full speed ahead with the execution of the vision for our games. We have chosen an ally who has already partnered with some of the world’s finest video game companies and helped them reach new heights while respecting their ways of doing things.”
I meant the FTC, my mistake. Microsoft buying Activision is an American company buying an American company, yet the UK CMA initially denied it.
I doubt the US will get involved. Tech land is too small of a company for the US to have much leverage. I mean technically they have no direct say in the merger itself. The FTC could prevent their products from being sold in the US, how much would that really hurt them? And the treasury department already blocked the Pentagon and state department from issuing sanctions against Tencent recently. It’s unlikely that will change. Too many billionaires here use China for various nefarious things including, but not even close to limited to, slave wage labor. And the US has no sway with the Chinese government over things like this.
It’s different with the UK and Microsoft/Activision. The UK is a huge market that they would have to give up if the UK put sanctions on them and both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are huge companies, so the merger creates a much bigger impact on the overall marketplace. Significantly reducing competition and significantly increasing the risk of antitrust violations like making Activision Blizzard games only work on Microsoft Consoles.
With the UK,
Wait, so the UK is a huge market so they have a say in it, but the US market isn’t big enough to hurt TechLand?
TechLand isn’t worth the FTC trying to use its clout, especially since the Treasury Department has already blocked action against Tencent previously. It would make the FTC look like fools if they tried to use their clout outside of their jurisdiction and were shut down not just by China, who would love to make the US look foolish in any way, but also by their own government.
The UK is using their clout outside of their jurisdiction on a much more significant market disruption to their own country and in the jurisdiction of a mostly cooperative ally.