APRIL 16, 2008 • Europe’s top anti-trust watchdog determined that Vivendi’s proposed purchase of Activision Inc. would not threaten competition. “The Commissions examination of the proposed transaction showed that the horizontal overlaps between the activities of Vivendi and Activision in relation to game software publishing are limited.”

Impact: Vivendi has a strong presence in online games and Activision has been strong with retail publishing.  Right now these are two very separate areas so the European Commission seems right on point in highlighting the lack of overlap.  The Commission also highlighted how the new company has significant competition from several players.  This underlines DFC’s argument that the game industry is becoming more fragmented, not more consolidated.