FTC clears Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard

A Microsoft logo is seen a day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn, in Los Angeles on June 14, 2016. [REUTERS]

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) gave a green light on Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one of the biggest deals of its kind in the gaming industry.

The regulator said Tuesday it gave unconditional approval of the $68.7 billion deal filed in April last year.

The financial watchdog said the acquisition would not harm the competition in the console gaming market due to the low market share of the games developed and distributed by the two firms in Korea.

Activision Blizzard's major game franchises include Starcraft, Diablo and Call of Duty.

Call of Duty titles and Diable titles each accounted between 0 and 2 percent of the market.

Microsoft said its acquisition of Activision Blizzard would allow it to put more games on its game subscription platform.

The European Union approved the deal on May 15.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]